Before I start my entry, I warn you - my mind is still a bit ... funny??

lol. xD

Oh forgive me for the lack of posts for the past few days. Indeed, I apologise for the short hiatus. Let's say it was all due to the art of procrastination... lol. xD Things haven't been going too great with the overload of uni work - assessments and exams. Urgh. ><" They are such revolting things and I guess it explains why I try to stay as far away from them as possible and consequently, this also explains my cravings for late night snacks, my rapid increase in diameter, runny red nose from sniffing (unconsciously) ancient textbooks on theorists (such as Piaget and Freud) and deep black eye bags from staring at the computer screen too long... =.="

As you can see , I was going through a sugar coma during the whole week and last night was no exception. ..

i ate ice cream and then i ate . . .

and then i ate . . .

and then i drank this whole bottle of chicken essence regardless of the taste because you don't want your mum's love to go to waste. I had felt horribly guilty for leaving mum so anxious about my health, especially for her having woken up at 2:50am in the morning!! Of course I told her to go back to sleep again. ^^ love you marmee!!

And then I ate . ..

... ice cream again. As everyone knows, desert is always saved to last. =p

Ah yes, procrastination. What an awful thing it is. Lol!! Yes, it is dreadful.

According to University of Sydney, procrastination, or avoiding doing a task, occurs among many students and has been shown to cause significant problems for more than 60% of students in any given semester!

Occasional or mild procrastination is normal. But for some students, procrastination becomes a chronic habit. And for me, it is definitely a bad habit.

And so you'll wonder, what makes me a chronic procrastinator? (o'.'o) Well, my uni says I am one because I:

• avoid work, despite mounting anxiety


• put myself under unbearable last minute pressure (I just experienced that again yesterday night), or fail to submit in time (okay I've never failed to submit work in time...)

So if you've replied "me too" to those points above, I would like to give you a big hug ^^ because oh dearest me, I know what pain; torture; anxiety and stress you've been through!! *sighs* >.<" Oh dearest me. I feel so inadequate.

Now, I had happened to pass by one of these pamphlets that offer procrastination counseling services and ah yes, there I was, pondering over whether I should try to attend a course. My dear friend Susan offered to accompany me if I wished to do so but lol, Susan is one of those students who you'll always find prepared and ready to go. She's just one of those students whom I admire so much. And as for me, lol! Yeah right. ^.~ Indeed, I am a bad influence upon my friend/s. kekeke. You know I love you guys. ^^ I can't help it, I get distracted so easily and when you've been reading too much psychology and biology books (as I have been of late) - your brain just tends to tell you that you are an idiot because you can't even help yourself and yet here you are, trying to analyse other people's minds and bodies... =.=" Bleh. kekeke!!

However, I have learnt something very significant from the pamphlet...

There are 3 types of procrastination:

1. Basic procrastination: such as watching hours of television, even though there is nothing on, spending excessive time checking emails or on ebay and facebook.
   
2. Productive procrastination: this includes works that makes you feel that you have achieved something, even if it is not at all related to uni, such as cleaning hte fridge. You do not feel that you can leave the house ("I am supposed to be studying") however you're not actually getting any work done at all.
   
3. Advanced procrastination: work that seems related to the task but is not aactually assisting you get the task itself done. For example, spending hours in the library looking for the "perfect reference" or searching for every article written on the topic.

I feel that I must preach for I definitely do not wish you to undergo the horrible experiences I have had thanks to procrastination.

Once you have identified when you are procrastinating you need to look at your task approach and how you manage thoughts and feelings about study.

Time and task management:

• break the task down into a series of smaller chunks. attack any chunk. Don't you feel you have to start at the beginning.
  
• Reward yourself for finishing each chunk


• take regular breaks from study
  
• do physical exercise such as going for a walk when you take breaks or do some simple stretches in your room


• work at times of the day which are most productive for you. Are more alert in the morning or night?


• Organise your environment to help you study. Eg. tidying your room, collecting the resources you need and saying "no" to distractions, such as phone calls.


• Start to draft early. The hardest part of any task of ten the beginning

Labels: makes my tummy rumble, the private world, uni