metro mama

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Pressure

Since I’ve gone back to school I’ve really put pressure on myself to get good grades (I must be making up for high-school when I could care less). If I don’t get an A I’m bitterly disappointed. Now that I’ve decided to apply for grad school the pressure has worsened. Right now I have three papers due at the end of the month, one worth 50% of my mark. I feel a little sick. You see, I’m compulsive about deadlines—I need to be finished things well in advance of them. When I have deadlines looming, I feel really anxious, and can’t sleep at night. I actually envy the people who can procrastinate and pull something out of their ass at the last minute.

How do you cope with deadlines? Are you blasé, or a nervous nelly like me?

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19 Comments:

Blogger moplans said...

If it were not for the last minute I would never get anything done. I am the queen of procrastination.
I'm sorry you are so stressed.
Wanna come shopping with me?
Just kidding. that only relieves stress for us slackers.
Good Luck, you can do it!

9:34 AM  
Blogger Angela said...

Hi Metro Mama, found your sitelink from Her Bad Mother last week, great posts! Sorry LisaB, but you have been dethroned, I am the Queen of Procrastination, started packing my overnight bag only after my water broke...of course, couldn't find half the things on my list...
I stress about deadlines, can't sleep or concentrate, but still end up leaving things to the last minute while doing less important things which are often left half-finished...help!!

10:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i'm a big stresser. about everything, but especially about deadlines.

11:14 AM  
Blogger karengreeners said...

well, my whole job is deadlines, and as douglas adams once said:

I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.

i am a seat-of-my-pants, last minute procrastinator. but i work well that way. always got a's (sorry).

11:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I discovered I work well under pressure and have procrastinated most of my life. That said, I feel much better when I get things done ahead of time and that feeling is wonderful. Due to procrastination, I have failed to finish things that were important to me which makes me sad. So I have made a pledge to myself to do things ahead of time and I move up (WAYYY UP - a la The Friendly Giant) my "deadline" so I can feel my own self-imposed pressure. Make sense? It works for me.

11:40 AM  
Blogger Run ANC said...

I find it impossible to work without deadlines. I need the motivating factor of a cutoff date. I'm the worst combination of the far end of the spectrum: I stress and stress and have a great need to have everything done ahead of time, but somehow always leave it to the last minute.

I'm signed up for some university courses next semester and I'm already stressing about being able to juggle the workload and The Boy. How are you finding it?

2:28 PM  
Blogger kittenpie said...

I'm an inveterate procrastinator, so my papers are usually written the night before. Or, um, morning of... I understand that growing pressure, though. I became more that way as I got further along because I had learned the power of the mark to open doors and shut up other people.

3:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Procrastinator here. But not recommending it. The few times I managed to, I always found it much more relaxing to finish a paper a few days ahead of schedule, thereby giving me time to go back and proofread it one last time with fresh eyes.

Hang in there.

5:30 PM  
Blogger Her Bad Mother said...

I'm a procrastinator, baby. All the way. Writing down the wire, right to the last minute and beyond. And, truth? Most academics that I know (in my field, anyway) are like that. Largely because perfectionism compels us to JUST KEEP WRITING until something (a deadline, sleep) forces up to stop.

7:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Add me to the list of procrastinators. But I do also get nervous about deadlines as they approach. And continue to procrastinate until I can't any longer.

I also always figured out how low a mark I could get on the paper or exam and still get the credit. I usually ended up with good marks but figuring that out helped take the pressure off.

8:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Funny, I am one of those people you envy.

And YOU are the kind of person I envy for getting it done ahead of time.

10:17 PM  
Blogger Blog said...

I'm a nervous nelly like you! I used to procrastinate and then pull all-nighters....

If you have time, you're tagged (yes, officially...)

12:09 AM  
Blogger Girlplustwo said...

i usually obsess on it while putting it off till the last minute. and then i pull it off, but kicking myself for not giving it more time. repeat.

12:37 AM  
Blogger Lisa said...

Now that I get older, I'd be more like you -- worried until I get it done...

Good luck on your papers!

12:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Used to be the nervous one. But lately, I've been learning not to get nervous about everything.

It's something you can learn, you know...

2:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

For me it started in grade one when I was procrasting a deadline for handing in a piece of art work. We had a book that said "This is a picture of..." Other kids wrote house/tree/my family and drew the picture. I didn't get my assignment done so I wrote Nothing and handed it in. I got TWO stars!!! Ever since I've been putting off everything until the last minute.

My last trip I started packing forty minutes before my taxi picked me up to take me to the airport!

12:04 PM  
Blogger Creative-Type Dad said...

I procrastinate like 80%-99% of the world.

I can't get something done early. It would be against everything I stand for.

3:49 PM  
Blogger Urban Daddy said...

Hi.

Dad of 2 children, one 22 months and one almost 5 weeks. I'm 2 years into a 2 1/2 year MBA program done online. I learned to turn my nervousness into excitement and whenever I am feeling overwhelmed (like right about now), I commit to an hour on the computer, then read other blogs, and news stories, then get cracking on my work which usually helps me complete the task(s).

Good luck for the courses!!!!

10:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Definite procrastinator, pull-it-out-of-my-ass type. I did get a little better with each respective stint in grad school (I have 2 Masters degrees) but in large part I only improved when I had a family that kept me from working 24/7 on last minute assignments.

Good luck on your papers!

11:47 AM  

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