When I write for a class my biggest problem is the deadline, because I procrastinate a lot. When I procrastinate I feel rushed at the end and I turn in bad work, or at least I think it's bad because I know that i can do better.
When I have to show someone my writing I feel like it makes absolutely no sense to the person reading it because I wrote it when I was stressed out and about to cry, so it barely made sense to me. If it's a teacher that's reading I feel like they are going to judge my intelligence on how well that piece of writing is so it freaks me out and I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack because they're going to think that I'm stupid or something.
These two things are related because it is my procrastination that leads me to doing work right before the deadline which is why I'm stressing out and write poor work and why I feel that that piece of work is going to make someone think less of me.
Honestly in order to address my anxieties I have to go calm down first because I'm always stressed out when it comes to my writing and if i try to do anything right away I might come off rude or like a psycho-babbling idiot. After I calm down and can speak in coherent sentences again I go and talk to my teacher about my writing and explain to them how I feel about it and ask if they can give me any feedback. After I talk to them I can usually go and edit my paper and feel less stressed about it because it now makes more sense. Plus, they were able to understand what I was saying and didn't tell me I was dumb or wrong so that helped.
I often struggle with deadlines when it comes to turning in work, especially writing. There's never a simple answer to procrastination. I find it helpful, personally, to begin the work as soon as it was assigned. It is still fresh on your mind, and you are more prepared to create appropriate and acceptable work. When I begin work the soonest I can, I can write a decent paper, getting all of my thought that are fresh on my mind down on paper. After I do this, I find it much easier and less stressful to be able to go back and revise and improve my work. So in short, the only way to stop procrastinating is to stop procrastinating. As far as the stress and fear of sounding dumb goes, beating procrastination and doing your writing earlier should help you feel less stressed and more in control. Plus, you'll have more time to improve your writing and submit your best work.
ReplyDeleteI've had the same problem. I would always wait until the last minute to start doing my work. It's a new year which means there's time to make some changes in your career as a student. I'm making a major change in my work habits and will aspire to begin working on long-term assignments as soon as possible. Even on the first day the assignment is assigned, jotting down a few ideas or making some notes about the project can go a long way in what your final product will look like. Also, setting your own deadlines can be a great help. For instance, tell yourself your first draft is due one week before the final due date. This way you essentially have your paper done minus a few errors in spelling and punctuation here and there. My english teacher in high school really helped me by utilizing this method. Furthermore, when you edit your paper before writing your final draft, it's good to have a friend read over it so that you get an idea of what your audience sees what your saying as oppose to what you are actually trying to say. Sometimes information is misinterpreted and can throw off the meaning of the story.
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