View Full Version : slacker help
Ook..... so i'm pretty much the biggest slacker in the world. No lie. Whatever stories you think you have, i can beat em. I'm pretty sure that i've never done all my assigned homework in one night before. If by some miracle i do any homework, its usually just for one subject, occasionaly two... i never do all my subjects. ever.
Now... i'm kinda worried about a few things... college and all that future career stuff and all my terrible habits and awful work ethic... but in the immediate future... i need to buy a car. If i'm on honors, cheaper insurance... SO i really want to be on honor roll. Now... for a smart gal like myself... most assume piece of cake. I'm easily in the top 2 percent intelligence-wise of my class. grade wise... eh... not nearly so well. let's say... i'm not unused to getting D's... and passing by the skin of my teeth.... oh too common. And i'm rather afraid that i'm all too used to that. I honestly, sincerely can no longer bring myself to do homework.
I am really really struggling to convince myself to buckle down and work. I have no idea what to do really... but i keep trying to convince myself that i need to do it... and so far... i'm quite unsuccessful... Today, i will make my hardest attempt in known history to do all my homework thoroughly and well for every subject. I have a lot of work to do... But i'm really gonna try. i swear it! anyways, i've been talking to teachers and friends, and i'm just really pleading and begging for any and all encouragement i can get. I need constant attention... i need to really feel pushed. I need everyone to pretend i'm a little elementary schooler that needs constant supervision and motivation. Soooo... since i frequent here all too often when i should be studying... i'm hoping that when i make those visits that i can read this thread and hopefully convince myself to return to my studies... Another thing... is that sometimes when you start out, its easy to remember you motivation.. but say a month from now... or a week... or tomorrow... i may be like why the hell did i decide to do this? and i'll be like oh yeah... and i can read this... and see how everyone agreed with me... and yeah. I'm hoping it'll work... a little at least.
alright, and i guess even if no one cares about me and my issues... i now have documented evidence that on december 1st, 2003, at 3 o'clock, i declared, in a healthy, conscious, sane state of mind, that i Gale truly desire good grades and better work habits, and therefore am going to make my best effort at doing homework! woo.. i wish me good luck... and so it begins...
Do you think you could strip and hook on the side? If not, you might want to study or else you could end up there[;)]. Ever been to the ghetto? And no I don't mean that area of town where they don't even have a starbucks[o)] . I'm talking about the real ghetto. Pay a visit to Queens. Become familiar with it. It may be your new home in the future. Education is a must in the real world- I know it sounds parenty, but you won't be working anywhere but Mickey D's with a high school education. I'm not just trying to scare you- these are just the facts m'am. You control your future- no one else. So in 20 years you won't be able to blame your parents, your friends, your teachers, or anyone but yourself for your life.
Find something that interests you and stick with it no matter what. This is a start.
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 02:45 PM
Unfortunately, Gale, I can tell you from firsthand experience that slacking is an incurable disease.
Oh wait, that wasn't very encouraging. Oh well.
Seriously, if you're not intrinsically interested in a subject, it's pretty hard to get yourself to spend a lot of effort on it, especially if the work is tedious. Extrinsic motivators (like "if I manage to do this, I can get a car") will only get you so far. The best thing is to find some way to take a serious interest in the subject material of your classes, if you can.
One thing I found that helps is working with someone else. I don't necessarily mean working together on assignments, per se; that can be ethically questionable. But just having someone else in the room, so you can push each other forward when you're slacking off, can help. (That can backfire if you or the other person is the sort who can't help chatting the whole time instead of working.) It's also helpful when you get stuck, to have someone else who can look over what you're doing, or (if you're working on the same thing), with whom you can compare your work.
Another thing is to compete with yourself by taking some pride in your work.. think of your assignments as professional, finished products that you're going to keep, refer back to in the future, show to other people, etc. (That may actually be true: I refer back to or loan out a lot of my old work.) Do them out neatly, as if you were writing them up to explain to somebody else. Keep them all in an organized binder. But for that to work, you have to actually care about what you're doing...
Other than that, I spent more time finding sneaky ways to be a slacker and still get what I want out of life, than I did trying to not be a slacker...
I think it is very important to understand that it is not a failure of yourself. I mean, everyone slacks, I have been slacking for the past week and the workload for December is now astronomical..
Seeing it as a failure of yourself will only make you feel worse and slack more, since, what is the point of reading those few pages when you are already behind so much.
The best way to deal with it, besides the very insightfull tips from Ambitwistor, is to take it fresh. Forget the work you COULD have done, rather focuss on the work you will still be ABLE to do.
There is this motivational speaker on PBS, and she has a very important message when it comes to money (especially after the market collapsed over the last years). You should look at what you HAVE and not at what you HAD. If you understand the importance in relation to money, it is very clear to see it applied to other things as well.
Gale, it is ok to slack off in school as long as your doing something worthwhile in the meantime. (Hackeysack isn't a worthwhile alternative [6)] )
Albert Einstien, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates and Dean Kamen ( invented the portable dialysis machine and segway) , either cared less about school and/or dropped out to persue their dreams and aspirations.
Ther are four types of people in this world as I see it:
1. Bum
2. Worker
3. Thinker
4. Worker and Thinker
Life isn't about just working hard. Its about working in a smart and efficient manor to achieve your personal goals.
Descartes
Dec1-03, 04:31 PM
Hermann Minkowski called Einstein a "lazy dog", so I'd say you're in good company. As dduardo also pointed out, some of the more notable people of our time, scientists or otherwise, were not exactly stellar students.
Extending what the wise Ambitwistor said, out of the two forms of motivation (extrinsic and intrinsic), the extrinsically motivated people seem to be more manic about their progress. They need more instantaneous gratification I'd say, and they continually need it in order to facilitate personal progress. Contrast this with more intrinsically motivated people, and the progress may appear to be slower by the observer, but the result can often be more profound. Consider Newton, a man who went through years of self-depravity in order to concentrate; the result was of course The Principia. Einstein was also said to concentrate on a single problem for years. This isn't in the mindset of someone who expects more instant gratification for their efforts through grades.
I'll stop now, because I question the lucidity of the above :)
rick1138
Dec1-03, 04:43 PM
The reason you are slacking is because you don't care about the subjects you are studying - you are someone who needs to puursue dreams, then you will find true discipline.
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 04:48 PM
Originally posted by rick1138
The reason you are slacking is because you don't care about the subjects you are studying - you are someone who needs to puursue dreams, then you will find true discipline.
But she is pursuing her dream, of buying a car; unfortunately those pesky school subjects she doesn't care about are getting in the way. [:)]
Originally posted by Ambitwistor
But she is pursuing her dream, of buying a car; unfortunately those pesky school subjects she doesn't care about are getting in the way. [:)]
There are other mehods of paying for a car, such as drugs, gambling and prositution.
Or you could just steal a car.
[!:)]
haha well thanks all... encouraging... i think...
I think though that i've gotten beyond normal slacking a bit though. And am probably headed where zantra said... and sadly, that didn't used to bother me... so that all added to my slackingness... actually i'm still not sure if it bothers me... i really don't know what my future holds and the ghetto mightn't be so terrible... depends on what you value in life...
but either way... i don't even just slack in the subjects i don't like... i slack no matter what. I love physics and calculus, but i still rarely do work outside of class... i love french and piano too... also classes... and again... never do the work for them either.
I used to study a lot outside of class. I read books all the time, always tried learning new things... and i've even stopped doing that... I'm at like a standstill in life... and i'm literally doing absolutely nothing. And i'm not happy about that. I like being semi-productive... i like learning... but i think i've lost that passion maybe... due to my extreme slacking... i'm not sure. I want it back though. learning and knowledge and all that was like what i lived for... and its gone now. I guess i'm hoping that by using a shallow goal like my car to get myself uesd to working again, that perhaps i can respark my desire for knowledge up again.
rrrrg... i'm so frustrating...
Originally posted by dduardo
There are other mehods of paying for a car, such as drugs, gambling and prositution.
Or you could just steal a car.
[!:)]
haha... hmm... don't tempt me... i have no moral qualms with any of those methods... only reason i don't do that stuff is because i question my sanity and how grounded to reality i am... i'm scared that that stuff doesn't bother me, i'm not normal... soooo... i just don't do that stuff, just in case, one day, i wake up and decide to be sane...
Unfortunately, my dumb unrealness i think is also the cause of problems in the work department... if i were more normal i think i could convinve myself that a few hours of homework wasn't so terrible...
There are some other oddball ways of motivating yourself that may or may not work. E.G. forbid yourself from eating anything but peanut butter sandwiches until your work is done. (It helps if you get your parents in on it)
Originally posted by Hurkyl
There are some other oddball ways of motivating yourself that may or may not work. E.G. forbid yourself from eating anything but peanut butter sandwiches until your work is done. (It helps if you get your parents in on it)
you know... i think that's the best advice yet... that might actually work. I'm so used to all the conventional punishment type stuff, that something like that might work...
and yeah, i put my parents on me, and all my teachers, my friends and just about anyone i could recruit for the cause. I'm hoping that i'll crack under the constant pressure... but i'm unsure about that... peanut butter sandwhiches though... you may be on to something....
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 08:45 PM
Originally posted by Gale17
I used to study a lot outside of class. I read books all the time, always tried learning new things... and i've even stopped doing that... I'm at like a standstill in life... and i'm literally doing absolutely nothing. And i'm not happy about that. I like being semi-productive... i like learning... but i think i've lost that passion maybe... due to my extreme slacking... i'm not sure. I want it back though. learning and knowledge and all that was like what i lived for... and its gone now. I guess i'm hoping that by using a shallow goal like my car to get myself uesd to working again, that perhaps i can respark my desire for knowledge up again.
Well, I have a lot of experience not only with slacking, but with going through very apathetic phases in my life. I think it's a problem that runs deeper than what shallow goals or simple reward/punishment methods can fix. Heaping up external pressure from your parents, friends, etc. won't help, if you're at a point in your life where success or failure doesn't have a real emotional impact on you. (Notice I didn't say "doesn't mean much to you"; it could mean something intellectually, but it doesn't really make you feel much different.)
So, one problem is you seem to be drifting in life. It can be hard to maintain an interest in any one thing when you don't know how it ties into your life and future. You may need to do some thinking about that.
(Sometimes people can also end up apathetic if they've gone through an emotional roller-coaster recently, so if that's an issue, you'd have to work on that too.)
As for resparking the intellectual interest, there's a number of things you can do.
One is to spend more time interacting with people who haven't lost that interest; it can rub off, and they can tell you about all kinds of neat things you've never even heard of.
A second thing is to teach people. You get the satisfaction of helping people, and it gets you back into the intellectual side of things.
A third option is to actually do things. It's easy to remain detached when you're just reading about them. And even when you're doing homework, all the problems are artificial and imposed from without. Find something you're interested in and play around with it. Build something, or try solving simple problems of your own invention.
Your situation reminds me a little of the physicist Richard Feynman after WWII. He worked very intensely on the Manhattan Project, and got burned out. He took a professorship at Cornell but was producing nothing, research-wise. Then one day he saw somebody throw a pie plate and noticed it was wobbling, and wondered how fast the wobble was. He sat down and calculated it out, and went around telling people about it. The other professors were like, uh, that's cute, but who cares? Feynman said, I just felt like playing around with it. And after a while, it reminded him of a problem he'd once tried working on involving the spin of the electron, and it eventually got him back into the swing of things; he had his curiosity back.
So... just wonder about things, play with them... I do that from time to time. Like, how fast would the Earth have to spin before everyone went flying off? Or, when water pours out of a faucet and makes a tapering curve, what's the formula for that curve? Can I drop things and with a stopwatch prove that x = 1/2 gt^2 is true, or measure g? If I doubled the diameter of the Earth but left its density alone, how much would somebody standing on the surface weigh? What's the fastest way to estimate what the strength of gravity in low-Earth orbit is, looking up as few numbers as possible? Can I estimate how tall a building is from the length of its shadow? Given a pencil standing on its point with a force of static friction, which is released, when does it start sliding, and which way does it slide? (Very tricky!) If I changed the charge of the electron by 1% but left the charge of the proton alone, what kind of force would develop between the ends of an object? If I wanted to prove that electric fields produce an inverse square law, how would I do it? If I slide a bead down a curved wire frictionlessly, what shape should the wire be for the bead to get there the fastest? (Also tricky.) How big would the Earth be if it were a black hole? If the penny in my pocket represented the Earth, then (to scale) how big would the Sun be, and how far away would it be? Can I write a computer program to simulate the orbits of planets? To calculate the properties of a magnet? To find the line that best fits a set of data points? To calculate the capacitance of an arbitrarily-shaped loop of wire?
The important thing is that you come up with things that you, personally, are interested in knowing the answers to, that you can work on at your own pace, and which are easy enough that you can figure them out.
The goal is to just reconnect to the simple pleasures in life... intellectually, and emotionally too. Take a walk in the woods, go pet some kittens, eat strawberries.
selfAdjoint
Dec1-03, 08:59 PM
Now that all the quasi-parents have got their huffs and pufs out of the way.
Gale your testimony shows that you're moving in the right direction. A real slacker won't have inner qualms about it. You're smart and a lot of stuff comes easy to you, and what isn't easy is BOOOOring. So you will find ways to motivate yourself - car insurance is a good one!
A lot of buckling down isn't gritting your teeth, it's just forming good habits. What distracts you from homework? Can you get away from it so you can't see/hear/feel/smell/taste it? When I want to keep myself from snacking, I put the food in a lower cabinet. So if I am tempted I have to stoop and reach, and in the stooping and reaching I have plenty of time to wonder if I'm doing the right thing. It doesn't always work, but it helps.
So how fast WOULD the earth have to spin before we flew off?
And Gale, I'll be the first to admit I was the king of all slackers once upon a time. I mean really, you have no idea. But you know, if I can save you some of the grief I had to go through because of it, I would. What I ended up doing was digging myself a hole, and I ended up not only having to put forth the effort that I should have put forth in the first place, but having to do it twice over to dig myself out of the hole I dug. So I just made things twice as hard for myself. What I'm saying is that unless you hit the lottery, there is no easy way out. Just have to bite the big one dere;)
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 09:07 PM
Originally posted by Zantra
So how fast WOULD the earth have to spin before we flew off?
About 17 times faster.
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 09:26 PM
Oh, here's another really fun one that you can do with just dimensional analysis... nobody tell Gale the answer, unless she doesn't want to try it.
In 1947, Life magazine published a time-lapse series of photographs of the first atomic bomb explosion, the Trinity test. The yield of the bomb was still classified, but just from looking at the pictures, you could estimate how powerful the explosion was. I don't want to type in all of the data points, but you can get a pretty decent estimate from just one data point: at a time 62 milliseconds after the detonation, the radius of the blast was 185 meters.
(Hint: assume that the radius of the explosion depends only on the elapsed time, the initial energy, and the density of air.)
Useful numbers: density of air ~ 1 kg per cubic meter, 1 ton of TNT ~ a billion calories.
(I got this problem out of Goldenfeld's text. This solution was worked out by G.I. Taylor in 1947.)
Ambitwistor, you really did describe me pretty well there... i was really apathetic a little while back, and i thought i had cured it... i guess i only fixed one aspect of it. Yes, failing... succeeding... no emotional nothing. You're right about that.
...oh and yes i'll do that problem. I really have no idea how to, but pleanty of people to ask for help with it. I guess i'll just have to learn something...
and yeah adjoint... i know what your saying about forming habits. And that's exactly whati need to do. But i have no idea how to make them unless i just keep being forced to work everyday after school by everyone i know. I've tried figuring ways to do it myself... like you snacks on the lower shelf thing... but i always outsmart myself, and blow me off, and disregard everything i try because of my twisted logic. SO, i'm hoping i can't completely disregard a million people. And hopefully, eventually, it's just become habit to do my work. i dunno...
DAY 1- i did my calc and my history, didn't have any french, should have practiced my piano... didn't, but it wasn't required, and should have studied physics, didn't, but i may stay after school tomorrow with my teacher, even if not, the test is weds, so i still have another night to study. well i guess so far so good? i should have studied my physics... but too late now.
wasteofo2
Dec1-03, 10:10 PM
Originally posted by Gale17
I'm easily in the top 2 percent intelligence-wise of my class. grade wise... eh... not nearly so well. let's say... i'm not unused to getting D's... and passing by the skin of my teeth.... oh too common. And i'm rather afraid that i'm all too used to that. I honestly, sincerely can no longer bring myself to do homework.
Way to be egotistical and arrogant. If you do that poorly in school and can't even bring yourself to do an hour or two of homework a night in order to secure yourself options in your future, then you're not intelligent. You may have potential to be intelligent, but until you reach that potential it's no more true to call you intelligent than it would be to call ferari with no keys in the transmission sitting in a parking lot "fast".
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 10:31 PM
Originally posted by wasteofo2
Way to be egotistical and arrogant. If you do that poorly in school and can't even bring yourself to do an hour or two of homework a night in order to secure yourself options in your future, then you're not intelligent.
Um, whether someone does their homework doesn't determine whether they're intelligent or not.
For that matter, even if we took the worst case and assume Gale flunks out of high school altogether, that's hardly the end of the world. One of the nice things about the U.S. educational system is that it's very flexible; you can pretty much recover from any kind of disaster later, if and when you choose to. I've seen it happen. (Which is not to imply that not graduating from high school is a disaster, either; for some people, it's the right decision. But enough doomsday talk; I'm sure Gale wants to go to college and will end up doing so soon enough.)
While we're at it, Einstein didn't exactly have a good track record with doing his schoolwork, either...
wasteofo2
Dec1-03, 10:52 PM
Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Um, whether someone does their homework doesn't determine whether they're intelligent or not.
For that matter, even if we took the worst case and assume Gale flunks out of high school altogether, that's hardly the end of the world. One of the nice things about the U.S. educational system is that it's very flexible; you can pretty much recover from any kind of disaster later, if and when you choose to. I've seen it happen. (Which is not to imply that not graduating from high school is a disaster, either; for some people, it's the right decision. But enough doomsday talk; I'm sure Gale wants to go to college and will end up doing so soon enough.)
While we're at it, Einstein didn't exactly have a good track record with doing his schoolwork, either...
Not doing your homework in and of itself doesn't make you not smart, however when you are so lazy that you're just barely able to pass your courses and you can see that it's going to affect you negatively in your future but still don't do anything about it, that qualifies you as not smart.
One who doesn't know they're contributing to their own downfall is ignorant, one who knows it and doesn't do anything to change it is a fool.
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 11:05 PM
Not doing your homework in and of itself doesn't make you not smart, however when you are so lazy that you're just barely able to pass your courses and you can see that it's going to affect you negatively in your future but still don't do anything about it, that qualifies you as not smart.
Several points:
1. It is fairly evident from what Gale has said that her slacking issues have deeper roots than merely being lazy.
2. Gale obviously is trying to do something about it.
3. Even if she wasn't, so what? It's her decision. My younger brother had a, shall we say, rather turbulent time in high school for various reasons, and ended up dropping out school. In retrospect, it was the best thing for him: he took some time off, got himself straightened out, earned a GED, and went on to do fine in college.
4. Wisdom, maturity, discipline, and intelligence are all different things.
5. Who asked you, anyway?
wasteofo2
Dec1-03, 11:17 PM
Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Several points:
1. It is fairly evident from what Gale has said that her slacking issues have deeper roots than merely being lazy.
2. Gale obviously is trying to do something about it.
3. Even if she wasn't, so what? It's her decision. My younger brother had a, shall we say, rather turbulent time in high school for various reasons, and ended up dropping out school. In retrospect, it was the best thing for him: he took some time off, got himself straightened out, earned a GED, and went on to do fine in college.
4. Wisdom, maturity, discipline, and intelligence are all different things.
5. Who asked you, anyway?
1. and?
2. Someone in a ferari sitting around deciding whether or not to put the keys in, comlaining about what a hassle it would be to turn the keys and press the pedal, while also telling everyone what an awesome driver they are is going to faster than someone sleeping in a ferari across the street.
3. Yup, it is her decision, but I felt it was stuck up to maintain that you're so much better than everyone else despite the fact that you recognize that you have very little chances at a good future and aren't doing anything to help yourself.
4. Yep, and I explained why her current course of action wasn't an intelligent one.
5. Last time I checked I was allowed to respond to threads as I see fit, perhaps a better question would be: Who asked you to defend Gale? Why not let her do it herself?
Originally posted by wasteofo2
Not doing your homework in and of itself doesn't make you not smart, however when you are so lazy that you're just barely able to pass your courses and you can see that it's going to affect you negatively in your future but still don't do anything about it, that qualifies you as not smart.
One who doesn't know they're contributing to their own downfall is ignorant, one who knows it and doesn't do anything to change it is a fool.
That something doesn't have to be getting straight A's. Just ask Albert Einstein! Look up what just about every Nobel Prize winner had to say about school. Not particularly flattering. School is not only a drag, it is not about growth and learning. School is a jobs creation project. Trying to be an imaginative inquisitive intellect in school will feel odd and anti-life because school is just that. The person who feels school is wonderful is a person devoid of an imagination.
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 11:35 PM
Originally posted by wasteofo2
1. and?
And, thus your statements regarding her laziness are off-base, since this is not primarily an issue of laziness.
2. Someone in a ferari sitting around deciding whether or not to put the keys in, comlaining about what a hassle it would be to turn the keys and press the pedal, while also telling everyone what an awesome driver they are is going to faster than someone sleeping in a ferari across the street.
Huh? I can't even tell which of the two people in your analogy is supposed to be Gale.
3. Yup, it is her decision, but I felt it was stuck up to maintain that you're so much better than everyone else despite the fact that you recognize that you have very little chances at a good future and aren't doing anything to help yourself.
She didn't say she was better than anyone. She said she was more intelligent. She also said she was a worse student.
4. Yep, and I explained why her current course of action wasn't an intelligent one.
No, you didn't. You merely asserted it. But while we're at it, how is asking for advice about how to regain her lost love of learning, an unintelligent course of action?
You might also learn to accept that people's courses of action are not governed solely by their intellect, but also by their psychological states. In the case of my brother's psychological condition, dropping out of school wasn't an unintelligent course of action; it was prudent. It may or may not be an unintelligent course of action for Gale; that depends on her own goals and condition.
For that matter, getting bad grades isn't necessarily an unintelligent course of action in and of itself. I outright failed courses in high school, because of conscious decisions I made, but that didn't stop me from getting into the college of my choice; colleges look at a lot more than just grades, and I knew how to make up for grades in other ways that were more suitable to me.
5. Last time I checked I was allowed to respond to threads as I see fit, perhaps a better question would be: Who asked you to defend Gale? Why not let her do it herself?
Last I checked, I was allowed to respond to threads as I see fit. Why do you feel a need to post a completely unproductive message that serves no purpose other than to insult someone?
wasteofo2
Dec1-03, 11:36 PM
Originally posted by Vosh
That something doesn't have to be getting straight A's. Just ask Albert Einstein! Look up what just about every Nobel Prize winner had to say about school. Not particularly flattering. School is not only a drag, it is not about growth and learning. School is a jobs creation project. Trying to be an imaginative inquisitive intellect in school will feel odd and anti-life because school is just that. The person who feels school is wonderful is a person devoid of an imagination.
...
Did you even read what I said?
I never said school and grades were the only measure of intelligence.
I never said that if you do poorly in school you're not intelligent.
I never said school was a place to build your creativity.
I said that if you're doing poorly in school and you know that it will affect you negatively, yet don't do anything to help yourself, then you're not intelligent.
Ambitwistor
Dec1-03, 11:42 PM
I said that if you're doing poorly in school and you know that it will affect you negatively, yet don't do anything to help yourself, then you're not intelligent.
Not only is that manifestly untrue, it also hinges on your own assumptions about what will affect Gale negatively. It is additionally worth noting that the entire point of this thread was for Gale to find ways to help herself.
wasteofo2
Dec2-03, 12:11 AM
Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Not only is that manifestly untrue, it also hinges on your own assumptions about what will affect Gale negatively. It is additionally worth noting that the entire point of this thread was for Gale to find ways to help herself.
Ok, Gale said herself that getting poor grades was going to affect her negatively.
I read almost all the first post, thought I saw where it was going and kind of glazed over. I did not read the last part about her actually wanting to help herself, only the part about her wanting cheap insurance. I concede that my attacks on gale are now moot.
However I still maintain that it's stupid if you don't do anything to change the path you're going on if you can see that it's negative and want to avoid it.
Ambitwistor
Dec2-03, 12:25 AM
Originally posted by wasteofo2
However I still maintain that it's stupid if you don't do anything to change the path you're going on if you can see that it's negative and want to avoid it.
It can be, but like I said, psychology comes into play too... for many reasons, including depression, apathy, grief, etc., people are not always in an emotional condition to effectively carry out some courses of action, even if they know their current course isn't good. I've been in situations where I literally could not focus on intellectually-demanding tasks long enough to accomplish them; at one point, I had to quit my job. There are times when life just sucks for whatever reason and you're not well-prepared to cope with it. It's not a question of just forcing yourself to do something because you know it would be good for you; sometimes you have to fix the psychological issues first before you're even capable of it.
Disregarding the argument above me, my only advice is this:
Get off the internet.
This is no place for slackers who are trying to improve themselves. Take it from someone who knows.
Originally posted by Galatea
Disregarding the argument above me, my only advice is this:
Get off the internet.
This is no place for slackers who are trying to improve themselves. Take it from someone who knows.
Ya man! There's only so many slacker spots, and I'm not giving mine up without a fight!
Ambitwistor
Dec2-03, 11:35 AM
Originally posted by Galatea
Get off the internet.
This is no place for slackers who are trying to improve themselves. Take it from someone who knows.
Hey! The Internet is very valuable for self-improvement. There are news sites, so you aren't ignorant of current events. Plus wonderful sites like Physics Forums. And webcomics. And, um.. Hamster Dance ... And, er ...
Never mind.
Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Hey! The Internet is very valuable for self-improvement. There are news sites, so you aren't ignorant of current events. Plus wonderful sites like Physics Forums. And webcomics. And, um.. Hamster Dance ... And, er ...
Never mind.
And don't forget www.badgerbadgerbadger.com
[:D]
Originally posted by Zantra
And don't forget www.badgerbadgerbadger.com
[:D]
haha... no zantra who could forget that?!?
Well Ambitwistor, i really really apreciate everything your saying. Very encouraging to say the least. And i appreciate your defense at any rate, though of course, no need to get worked up on my account.
I almost can agree with wasteofo2. First off, yes i'd agree that i'm probably a bit egotistical and arrogant... not to mention slightly cocky, conceited, vain, narcissistic... the list goes on. I'm pretty awesome, and i'm proud of that. But yes, i have pleanty of failts too which i also recognize. Also, yeah, not doing at least an hour or so of homework a night, for any reasons, isn't terribly smart by any means. I probably lack quite a bit in the common sense department and adding to that, i'm hardly in touch with reality... so the little sense i have, half the time isn't even realistic... So yes, i probably could have been much smarter if i had just done my homework all along. Also, yes if you wanted, you could say i've only great potential to be intelligent, seeing as i have yet to apply myself. But if you used things like tests or anything to determine intelligence, and my entire class took them, i can probably garuntee i'd be at the top. Take that for what its worth, all you have to base that on is my word, but i had hoped that'd be sufficient enough.
But, i spose i needn't defend myself either. wasteofo2 has already declared his "attacks" mute. But i apreciate it anyways. Its good to see what factors do separate me from just being a lazy, cocky sluff, and what i really am, and how poorly the former is looked upon.
However I still maintain that it's stupid if you don't do anything to change the path you're going on if you can see that it's negative and want to avoid it.
well you can rest assured that i am trying to change my path... that's rather the purpose of this thread. I guess that sure, i could have changed a long time ago, but a long time ago, it wasn't a problem.
either way, yeah, internet bad. I've decided to limit my usage of that. I've also decided to stay after school with teachers when possible. Not for help, but just cause i feel like i have to work when they're around. One friend of mine has offered to study with me, and he promises to try and stay serious. I think that'll really be helpful. But i still feel like i'm maybe in over my head a bit.
DAY 1- i did my calc and my history, didn't have any french, should have practiced my piano... didn't, but it wasn't required, and should have studied physics, didn't, but i may stay after school tomorrow with my teacher, even if not, the test is weds, so i still have another night to study. well i guess so far so good? i should have studied my physics... but too late now.
Here are some things to think about:
Playing piano is fun, isn't it? Maybe you weren't in the mood to actually practice the things you're supposed to practice, but playing fun stuff is still a form of practice, right?
Essaye-tu écrire ceci en Français? C'est bonne pratique.
On your way to school today, did you see if you could recite (in your head) that lesson in physics you were having trouble with?
It's often a great help to try and study in unusual ways, or to apply the knowledge in unusual situations. Obviously this should not be a substitute for the ordinary thing, but it's definitely helpful, and I would posit that doing this is certainly better than pure studying in the ordinary way.
I know Ambitwistor said something similar, but I think it needed emphasized some more. [:)]
Of course, this doesn't help with turning in homework. [:(] Is your problem just the homework, or are you failing lots of tests too?
Ya she COULD write it out in french, but only a handful of us would understand[;)]
Originally posted by Hurkyl
It's often a great help to try and study in unusual ways, or to apply the knowledge in unusual situations. Obviously this should not be a substitute for the ordinary thing, but it's definitely helpful, and I would posit that doing this is certainly better than pure studying in the ordinary way.
I know Ambitwistor said something similar, but I think it needed emphasized some more. [:)]
Of course, this doesn't help with turning in homework. [:(] Is your problem just the homework, or are you failing lots of tests too?
Yeah, i'm really liking your unconventional thinking hurkyl. All the conventional stuff has long stopped working for me. You've great great ideas.
And my test scores are why i'm still passing. Its pretty typical of me to ace almost all my tests in every clas. Only class that's not true in is calc/ phys. Which isn't so bad. Thats just the only class thats challenging, so i hafta work a little. But so yeah, its just the homework.
Hey Hey!! ITS ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awww poor Gale, dont worry you arent alone in your slacking. Im in the top 2 for intelligence in my physics class (however there are only two people taking A2 physics! [*(] ) and i havent done homework in 2 years, well not properly, im a master blagger lol. I know that this is my last chance to get to university so i have motivated myself a little more and am doing at least 40 minutes of revision a night.
Anyway if i dont get into uni im going to follow my dream and learn the guitar and become a rock star (this isnt a joke).
Thats an easy way out anyway i suggest that you just, i dunno, pysche yourself up every day to get into the mood of working, take time to think about what you learned in school as that will more likely put you in a working mood too. That has worked for me so far this year anyway.
[g)] SLACK OFF! PRAISE BOB!
www.subgenius.com
yeah, i'm really liking your unconventional thinking hurkyl. All the conventional stuff has long stopped working for me. You've great great ideas.
It almost seems like I've gone through all this, doesn't it? [:D]
So how's the progress going? How many peanut butter sandwiches have you eaten?
Originally posted by photon
So how's the progress going? How many peanut butter sandwiches have you eaten?
I think she is really dedicated now. She hasn't been on physicsforums for 3 days. Either that, or she didn't know she was allergic to peanut butter and died from consuming too many sandwiches.
Or maybe she was playing a Zork text adventure and got freaked out. [:D] (dduardo)
hahahah, cute guys. Dduardo, do you always notice when i'm missing?? hahah, thats ok... its sweet.
Anyways, yeah, i'm actually doing very well. i have one more late assignment to pass in before i'm caught up. The last two papers i got back in history were A's. I've also been doing very well in my calc and phyics class, as that turns out, doing some work at home really does help on test... and now i've gotten into the top 5 grades in class. French was always good, but now instead of a low B i'm looking at possible A by the end of the quarter. So, as of today, there's a pretty good possiblity i'll make honors and get that cheaper insurance i wanted. Course thats just short term there, but i really think i've finally gotten my act together a bit. Started looking at options after school and all that, and finally, i feel like some better options exist. As soon as i get this school thing down... i'm gonna tackle my bedroom. Maybe i can figure out how to keep that clean. If i can do that, than like, woah... i'd be like the awesomeest person alive.
I didn't even have to do the peanut butter thing yet. I'm actually just enjoying my good grades. Its kinda weird, never minded the bad ones, but the good ones... they're pretty nice.
What is Zork text adventure???
...maybe peanut butter sandwiches could be a reward now *mmmmmm, peanut butter* [6)]
Ambitwistor
Dec6-03, 06:37 PM
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/lingo.html#zork
Zork is the commercial (Infocom) version of the Adventure (or ADVENT) game which, written in 1976, is one of the oldest video games in existence, well-loved by computer geeks worldwide. It is a purely text-based game: it describes an environment to you, and you can type in commands to perform actions. You can play it here:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~pot/infocom/zork1.html
(For other ancient pre-personal computer games, check out Spacewar and Rogue/Nethack.)
"You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike. It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."
ah text games were classic, however i did enjoy the point and click fun of games like Monkey Island, they were classics!
What is Zork text adventure???
I said that with dduardo's name after it because he said he got freaked out by one in another thread.
[:D]
Originally posted by photon
I said that with dduardo's name after it because he said he got freaked out by one in another thread.
[:D]
...how? what? why? HOW? HOW? HOW? [6)]
Huh? [*(] I don't get it!!
are you talking about a text adventure? why would he get freaked out by a text adventure? it's only pre-programmed words
Ambitwistor
Dec6-03, 07:34 PM
Those grues are scary, man.
I'll defend dduardo this time: he said it was a graphic version of Zork.
Now , back to the subject of slacking, my favorite.[:D] [;)]
So everything is going well then?
you know... i was doing so well... and i dunno...
suddenly i'm just depressed and utterly unmotivated.
Somehow I guessed that by how this thread got suddenly quiet. I know what you mean about the not being motivated. If it helps I read a quote that went something like, "When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hold on."
I think you've come down with what I have, that odd sort of sickness that makes you feel like running away from it all. Ever feel that way? Like everyone else in the world doesn't know this kind of a secret that says everyone else is stupid? Ever hear that little voice in the back of your head that tells you you're fooling yourself? Listen to that little voice more often and you may find yourself further ahead than expected. Keep doing the peanut butter sandwich thing because you know you just can't quit after making everybody here care.
[:)]
But it felt good when you were doing everything, right?
Yeah, it felt great. I had excellent grades and everyone was really pleased. Everyone was asking for updates every hour. And it was great. But, i dunno, everyone was so pleased that they figured i was all set, and i wasn't. Like, i got a little support from so many people that it was a ton of support. But then everyone sorta withdrew figuring that i was doing it pretty much on my own... since their support was so minimal anyways... and so when everyone did that i was left with nothing. I mean, i know i shouldn't need everyone else pushing me, but it sure made things way easier. So, i've gotten behind.. a lot. i can't motivate myself enough on my own.... before i didn't want to dissapoint people, and i wanted everyone happy with me... and sure my insurance, and my grades, but i guess just people was what really got me... so, i'm gonna try to remotivate myself on my own... at least a little. And then i guess if i get desperate again i can have everyone help me.
Trying to tackle this on your own sounds like a good idea. But if you need any motivation that problem is easily solved. We'll contact your other friends that live near you and get them to toilet paper your house 3 times a week until you're a straight "A" student. [:D]
Seriously, if you need anything, your PF friends are here.
But for good measure...
*push*
6 pages?[8)] Gale, unless you are in complete danger of failing, don't be overly worried about it. (you might be, I'm too lazy to go back and check). Bottom line is that you have to set a goal for yourself and work to reach that goal. You need to learn to motivate yourself, because in the real world, no one is going to motivate you or take the time to give you that much attention. At least when it comes to your own personal achievements. Learn to be self sufficient.
My cousin was much like you, and so I have experiences with these things. We tried and tried to motivate him. And he was very smart too.. but extremely lazy. He's now in jail, and disowned by the family. He was looking for the easy way out, and decided breaking the law was quicker than actual work. He thought he was too smart to get caught. he was wrong.
Ahh well.. ultimately you're going to do whatever you decide- good luck!
I stoped slacking off when i found something i liked doing. When i entered university i started studying computers, which i totally love to study. I'm also taking mathematics and physics courses as electives. I know that sounds crazy but it interests me and i study it alot more that some crappy other course like business that would totally bore the hell out of me.
Just find something you like to do and stick with it and your slacker habits will die.
The problem is schools don't work the way human beings work. Growth and learning and the inspiration to seek is a human trait. School is a jobs creation program. In life, you are drawn naturally to those things that interest you (why would you gravitate towards something that did not interest you!?). When this happens, you go after it in a manner that naturally leads to growth. School is a place where this doesn't happen; in school you have to force it. You may find a class that most closely matches your natural inclinations, but even the classroom structure isn't based on how humans work, so you still have to *force it* at times. The thing to remember is that schools weren't invented as a result of someone thinking about growth and learning and how to enhance it or create it or whatever. There is no scientific theory of learning; never mind one that schooling rests on for its validity. School is just a way to preempt normal childhood development in order to extend childhood into the teens, twenties and thirties. Immature and bored people are the best consumers! College is a way to further seperate management from the riff raff and a way to create jobs for administration types.
So you either have to force it (which can drive you mad in a number of ways; some of which go unnoticed by most but which is evidenced in the absurd, slap hand to forehead, world we live in) or quit school and go after what interests you as directly as possible (which more ppl. do than you might have heard -- including scientists!)
Prepare for indignance...
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