I need intp advice: Version 2.0

[Rook]

Well then, here I am again.

After one semester in a great university, it seems that I have failed all of my subjects due to procrastination.

This does not lead to the discontinuation of my course, but it does introduce some complications.

Thus I have two goals with this thread:

1. Find a way to bypass my chronic procrastination and thus motivate myself towards academic excellence (A recurring topic on the forum).

2. Navigate the complexities I have now introduced into my academic future.


Allow me to elaborate.

1. Procrastination: In recent years, my degree of procrastination has increased considerably. I have now reached a point where I do not study for university exams and simply do not hand in simple assignments.

I do not even reason with myself anymore in regards to doing work, I simply do nothing and keep on doing nothing. This may be rooted in a lack of motivation, a lack of a personal philosophy or suppressed depression.

I do use marijuana, though not often. The problem of procrastination has developed before I started blazing, so it does not seem to be one of the major causes.

I am addicted to smoking tobacco, and will have to study the effects this may have on my situation. As it helps to curbs stress and makes one feel calm in times of darkness , it might be me giving a false sense of security.

There are other psychological considerations in terms of social interaction etc., but this thread is getting somewhat lengthy and they will have to be studied at a later date.

2. Complexities: As mentioned above, my failure has introduced some complexities into my studies.

I am currently studying for a 3 year IT degree, but my failure of first semester subjects has barred me from taking certain core IT subjects. Now I must replace them with non-IT electives.

My main choices lie either in business subjects (Somewhat boring, but more mathematical) or the arts (More entertaining, but less prestigious).

Thus, I also need advice on what electives I should take: Business or The Arts (psychology, media studies etc.)
Personal choice is irrelevant here, I wish rather to secure my future.


Thank you for reading, and may Armok bless you.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

1. Procrastination: In recent years, my degree of procrastination has increased considerably. I have now reached a point where I do not study for university exams and simply do not hand in simple assignments.

I do not even reason with myself anymore in regards to doing work, I simply do nothing and keep on doing nothing. This may be rooted in a lack of motivation, a lack of a personal philosophy or suppressed depression.

It's not that you do nothing, but you do something that you find much more interesting to the point of ignoring your academic pursuits.

What was it that you did that sparked so much interest in you? Maybe it could be something you can develop?

If you really did nothing (lying in bed and sleeping, staring at the wall, etc. (for 6 months) )I would think of seeking specialised help (psychiatry, psychology).

I do use marijuana, though not often. The problem of procrastination has developed before I started blazing, so it does not seem to be one of the major causes.

Any junk you smoke won't help you and will reduce your financial security.

I am addicted to smoking tobacco, and will have to study the effects this may have on my situation. As it helps to curbs stress and makes one feel calm in times of darkness , it might be me giving a false sense of security.

Smoking is both health and financially detrimental, get rid of this addiction, it may very well destroy many things in your life.

Seek help and fight it if you wish to improve your life.

2. Complexities: As mentioned above, my failure has introduced some complexities into my studies.

I am currently studying for a 3 year IT degree, but my failure of first semester subjects has barred me from taking certain core IT subjects. Now I must replace them with non-IT electives.

If you are studying to get a "paper" then try to choose things that present best on said "paper". Getting relevant IT abilities and skills is done by practice and self-study, outside of the academic institutions which help you with providing the knowledge and classess/assessments. Go to the libraries, find the resources and study that way, it's not so different from attending a course.

My main choices lie either in business subjects (Somewhat boring, but more mathematical) or the arts (More entertaining, but less prestigious).

Thus, I also need advice on what electives I should take: Business or The Arts (psychology, media studies etc.)
Personal choice is irrelevant here, I wish rather to secure my future.

Business, statistics etc. I am currently doing statistical analysis course, connected with databases and programming courses. I find some potential in the statistical mathematics overall.

Thank you for reading, and may Armok bless you.

As a side note, it may not be good to find excuses to ease the perception of your situation. It's your failure, and you need to deal with it the best you can.

Here is some celebrity talking obvious things:

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

He's dead apparently, so it could be a historical figure.

I had a possibly similar problem with certain topics distracting me from what I was supposed to do, until I realised, that these topics that are frequently distracting me are what I want to do in reality.

I thought about what needs to be done to survive and then what needs to be done to further my understanding and progression in the areas I naturally drift towards. For me there was no procastination cure, but embracing what I tried to deny and motivating myself to deal with everything else for the sake of being able to maximise my freedom of "procastination".

 

[TBerg]

Give up smoking cold turkey. Let the increased anxiety naturally impel you to act against death, instead of acting in death's favor. You need to figure out how to restore your natural desire to dominate your environment rather than being crushed by it. Fuck your slothful attitudes.

 

[EditorOne]

Get professional counseling. Some degree of procrastination goes with being INTP, but if you just can't shake it together to do anything, get help.

It happens.

May I suggest you explore the topic of consummate boredom? "I didn't do it because I was bored" sound like an inadequate, prima donna excuse to most people, but it's pretty common among those with INTP personality preferences. Lethargy, ennui, fatigue, avoidance: Been there, done that. I went through much the same thing you're talking about while in college and would have benefited, I believe, from a year off. The alternative to college at that particular time, however, was a jungle in Vietnam.

You might benefit from counseling not just for the thing itself, but to chart out a path back to university if you opt for a change of pace now to see if you can bust loose.

Good luck with it.

 

[Absurdity]

"Few understand that procrastination is our natural defense, letting things take care of themselves and exercise their antifragility; it results from some ecological or naturalistic wisdom, and is not always bad -- at an existential level, it is my body rebelling against its entrapment. It is my soul fighting the Procrustean bed of modernity"

- Nassim Taleb

Take some time off. I had a rough semester in college and then was forced to take the next semester off after summer break for financial reasons. It ended up being a pretty pivotal experience and I came back to school feeling very refreshed. Just make sure you do something with your time off, rather than simply sitting on the couch taking bongloads.

 

[TBerg]

It seems like Rook already has the requisite intelligence and skills to pull off college, but they simply don't do the work. They need to face some kind of death and beat the shit out of it after a hard struggle.

 

[Analyzer]

Why are you in school? If you are procrastinating about the classes than it seems like you are not interested in the material/course work. Maybe stop going for a while and focus on what you actually want to do. If a degree provides the answer(you don't need it for the majority of jobs, tasks) than go back.

 

[Pfness]

1. Find a way to bypass my chronic procrastination and thus motivate myself towards academic excellence (A recurring topic on the forum).

You need to figure out a way to manage your time. Something that works well for me is the utilization of web filtering at fixed hours to prevent myself from viewing non subject related websites when I should be studying. I suggest using a priority matrix as a 'may do' list instead of a 'to do' list. http://www.appfluence.com/

2. Navigate the complexities I have now introduced into my academic future.

This is part of the learning process, I've known many who are quite intelligent but have failed entire semesters due to what you've described. Hang in there!!!

1. Procrastination: In recent years, my degree of procrastination has increased considerably. I have now reached a point where I do not study for university exams and simply do not hand in simple assignments.

What is your daily nutrition composed of? When do you eat? Do you exercise at all?

I do not even reason with myself anymore in regards to doing work, I simply do nothing and keep on doing nothing. This may be rooted in a lack of motivation, a lack of a personal philosophy or suppressed depression.

Stay with me here, but I think you'll need to do some experimenting on your habits to help with the biological state you'll need to optimize studying

I do use marijuana, though not often. The problem of procrastination has developed before I started blazing, so it does not seem to be one of the major causes.

Stop using all marijuana and all drugs for that matter, at least for a semester. Prove to yourself that you can control what you consume.

I am addicted to smoking tobacco, and will have to study the effects this may have on my situation. As it helps to curbs stress and makes one feel calm in times of darkness , it might be me giving a false sense of security.

Tobacco allows you to pull one of those triggers in situations where you will become stressed and reach for that dopamine fix. I quit smoking 3 months ago and have never felt better, the concentration aspect is definitely back now without that cyclical need to reach for a pack...

There are other psychological considerations in terms of social interaction etc., but this thread is getting somewhat lengthy and they will have to be studied at a later date.

Social interaction we can focus on later, but first I suggest you need to focus on nutrition and cutting out all tobacco and drugs from your regimen.

2. Complexities: As mentioned above, my failure has introduced some complexities into my studies.

I am currently studying for a 3 year IT degree, but my failure of first semester subjects has barred me from taking certain core IT subjects. Now I must replace them with non-IT electives.

What sort of IT subjects are you studying? If the material is too dry there are always web forums orientated to that sort of thing; stackexchange, metafilter, experts exchange and countless others are your friends. Also, IT degrees mean little if anything if you cannot get the certifications to back them up. What sort of IT work would you like to get into? Unless you're doing CS, I've always seen IT degrees to be academic how-to's to learn material in order to get IT Certs. Though there are always humanities and business stuff thrown in for good measure.

My main choices lie either in business subjects (Somewhat boring, but more mathematical) or the arts (More entertaining, but less prestigious).

Thus, I also need advice on what electives I should take: Business or The Arts (psychology, media studies etc.)
Personal choice is irrelevant here, I wish rather to secure my future.

I'd say some of the best courses I took in a situation where I felt like you were arts courses. The whole entire point of university is to teach you how to think, not what to think. You may be pleasantly surprised on how you feel after taking some arts/humanities classes. It really sounds like you need to wake up, practice some vipassana meditation, exercise, cut out crap food, eat more vegetables, fruits, healthy animals and less wheat/sugar derived crap. I started the paleo diet a while ago and the mental fog i once had has dissipated.

Good luck!

 

[Pyropyro]

Rook I think you should seek professional help for your procrastination. It's getting a bit extreme IMO.

Also get rid of smoking. They're not exactly healthy for both body and wallet.

As for security, I really think you should finish what you started (IT). It's probably the fastest (but not necessarily enjoyable) means of getting your degree, finding connections and getting a job.

 

[Ariel]

1. Get a part time job. It'll force you to a schedule, and teach you to value using your education to get a better job.
2. Take up a sport of any sort. It'll get you in the mode of discipline and the appreciation of completion, success, and the enjoyment of the effort.