academic success - askastudent

academic success, bad times, mental health, stress

how to fight the procrastination demons

October 30, 2024
Hey Aska, do you have any advice or personal strategies that have helped you for avoiding procrastination? I don’t know if I’m burnt out or don’t feel like doing any work but I desperately need to be more productive. I’ve been putting my assignments off until I feel the panic streaming through my bones and it can’t be healthy. Not sure what to do about it, I’m only in lifesci but my work load is crazy. Don’t know if you’ve dealt with procrastination but I’ll take any tips. Thanks.

hey there,

my brother, my buddy, my comrade, my pal. i feel you.

you are not alone and it’s so normal to feel this at U of T, regardless of what program you’re in. i gotta be honest, the life sci work load is truly crazy and i don’t even have the time to wrap my head around how it’s humanly possible to get all your work done — your panic is not your fault, the system is just built in a panic-inducing way, methinks.

but man, i’m sorry you’re feeling that way, it really sucks.

well, i am proud to inform you that i consider myself a highly practiced procrastinator, and like you, am also constantly feeling the panic streaming through my bones. especially this midterm season, it’s been crazy.

anyway. i’d tell you it might be helpful to see a learning strategist at your college registrar, because that is a resource that is helpful for some people, though i’ve never tried it myself. but i’m sure that’s already on your radar, and so are the array of the university’s mental health resources.

the best i can do is just share what sort of works for me and what strategies i use. i am far from having it all figured out, but i do struggle with procrastination like you, so maybe something here will be helpful for you.
1. plot well
my first tip is to plan all your deadlines and assessments out in some sort of calendar system. there are so many out there that it’s too much to attempt to find the best one, but what you can do is find one that works for your purposes right now. at one point, that was notion for me. then, it was those little brown muji planners. then, at one point i didn’t plan anything out and kept it all in my head (it didn’t go well). now, i use google calendar.

what i look for in a calendar is the ability to add colour — specifically, the colour red, which i use to highlight all my big assessments/tests. this adds Urgency and i need that. and what i like about google calendar is you can add time-events that block off hours in your day AND to-do list tasks AND day-events that just sit at the top of your schedule.

ahh ok i’m realizing this is hard to describe but i also don’t really wanna add a screenshot of my calendar here lol. so lmk if you want a more in-depth post about the calendar planning side of time management.

anyway, planning things out visually is super helpful for me because while i plan, it induces panic ahead of time as i’m writing it all out — which is a good thing! it tells me i need to get on top of things now and not later. it also helps you see how much work you’ll have per week in the next month, which can indicate how you should be balancing your work.

2. small steps

my next tip comes from a counsellor i once saw in first year, and it is directly targeted towards procrastination.

a lot of the time, the reason we procrastinate is because a task feels too big or daunting, and so we try not to deal with it until we absolutely have to. so breaking your task into small steps is a really effective way to take away how big the task feels to us.

for example, you’ve got to study for a midterm in 3 days, and there’s just so much content to get through, you missed a couple lectures, and haven’t done a single reading since the first week of class. so you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. well, what i would do (and what i did, because this happened to me last week) is break this situation into smaller steps.

first, go through the lecture slides that you missed, and make that a separate task in itself: so now, you’ve just got to catch up on a lecture.

YAY, one step done.

then, you’ve got to catch up on the readings. this feels big again, so what i do is break the reading list apart into the weeks they were assigned to, and make a goal of how many weeks to get through in how many hours, depending on the reading lengths.

see what i’m getting at? rather than letting your brain go “oh no i have to catch up on a semester’s worth of content in three days and somehow memorize it all”, let it go “ok so right now, in this moment, i just have to watch this lecture recording”. it makes things a lot more do-able.

and if you’re really overwhelmed, it doesn’t even have to be “watch this lecture recording”. it can literally be, “fill up my water. load quercus, load the lecture. open my notes”, etc. etc.

3. dismantle yo’ fears

disclaimer: i have zero qualifications, i just love to psychoanalyze things and i’ve done a lot of thinking about this so hear me outttt (or scroll past, whatever).

ok. so while we can take care of how large a task is, we can also take care of how daunting it is. for example, think of some big deadline or assignment that’s stressing you out right now. for me, that’s a 15 page personal essay that i’ve got to write for one of my classes. then, think about why it’s scaring you. what exactly is so scary about it?

just sit and ponder that for a sec.

procrastinating is just a natural human response to a stressor — like the fight, flight, or freeze response. procrastination is the freeze. and depending on the person and situation, they procrastinate not because of a lack of motivation, but because they’re scared of one of the following things:
- the unknown, because it’s a task they don’t know how to do or have never done before
- failure <3 or disappointment
- bad feelings associated with doing the task
so for me, if i really think about why my 15-page paper is scaring me, i realize that i don’t want to start because i want to write absolute Bars and get a high mark on it. meanwhile, i’m also trying to avoid the stress i associate with writing a long paper — but it’s not like putting it off is going to solve any of that, in fact, it will only work against me!!!!

so basically, really thinking about why that thing scares you and dismantling it is one man’s way to conquer the anxiety of starting big assignments/tasks.

4. rest when you’re resting

my final tip also comes from that counsellor i saw. and it is to take proper breaks and draw clear boundaries between rest and work. you mentioned that you’re not sure if you’re burnt out or don’t feel like doing work, so i think this one might help you.

a problem that i (and several people i know) have is that when we take a break, we’re not really taking a break because the whole time we’re stressing about all the work we should be doing. so while we say we’re resting, our brain is still in drive-mode and is not resting.

as a result, this defeats the whole purpose of taking a break and then when you’ve got to lock in again, you still feel mentally exhausted. so it can be helpful to just being aware of this and consciously try to make a clear boundary between time set aside for work and time set aside for rest.

i also realize this is a pretty abstract instruction, so what this can tangibly look like is making your boundary physical. i heard somewhere that setting different environments for different things is super important because your brain will unconsciously associate an activity with that environment or something.

for example, a big one is not working in bed. doing work while laying in bed tells your brain that bed is an environment for working and resting, rather than just resting. or, having a different table for eating meals and another one for working. whatever is feasible for your living environment!

and, yeah. i’ll end it here cause this was another long post and i don’t want to bore the masses.

overall, i really hope that this was helpful in some small way or another. U of T is so notoriously hard and it’s a natural response to feel burnt out in this environment. it’s rough out here, but you’ve got this! best of luck to you <3.

over and out,

aska
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academic success, ccit, digital enterprise management, GPA, hard

stars, do you like dem?

May 10, 2024

hi there! i’m currently a grade 12 student looking at the ICCIT program, specifically DEM. i’ve been doing research (going on reddit) and i can’t really figure out wheter it’s a good program or not. i want to go into communications, and pursue project management, or public relations or something like that, and i’m not sure if i’m going to do higher education.

i’m not sure what to do, and am really scared of having a low gpa (cause everyone says UofT is hard to maintain a good gpa in)

any advice?

-plankton

hey plankton,

broo i haven’t seen you since you played the lead role in spongebob! nice to hear from ya.

ok, doing “research” on reddit is so real. but please don’t trust everything you read on there or let it scare you off! some people go on there just salty after bad experiences/grades, and others are just straight up Wrong. also, like, people are more likely to rant on reddit if they’re mad than if they’ve had good experiences. so you gotta proceed with as much suspicion as you can muster.

in terms of advice, i can tell you what i think. however, keep in mind that i can’t speak from experience since i’m not in a CCIT program, and also don’t know anyone in one either.

ccit programs

i think the communication, culture, information, and technology (CCIT) programs look really good. in general, u of t programs are quite high quality—there are hiGh stAndards here—and CCIT certainly doesn’t seem like an exception to that. especially if you want to go into communications, this seems pretty perfect for you. as you can see from the arts & sciences calendar, the department offers such interesting and unique courses. what you would learn here seems like it would be current, relevant, and applicable, for careers in the context of today’s digital age. they offer courses about topics from rhetoric and media, to digital marketing, to sound studies, to surveillance studies.

the digital enterprise management (DEM) specialist definitely sounds like the most “practical”-y program out of that list, since it incorporates business management. you mentioned you might want to pursue project management, so this seems like a good choice for you!

maintaining a good gpa

so i guess u of t is Just A Girl. it just can’t escape the juicy, frightening rumours spreading about it around high schools. but, the rumours are sort of true, because when i got here, i was

.

everyone talks about how if you’re an A student in high school, you become a B student at u of t—and if you’re a C student, you become a D student. and i think this does happen to most people, but it is definitely possible to not fall into this!

i think the reason why this gpa drop happens is that there’s just a huge jump from what’s expected from you in high school vs. uni, in terms of workload, speed of material, and grading standards, as well as a larger disconnect between teaching teams and students compared to high school. here, a lot of people say professors couldn’t care less about you, but i think most of them really do (i’ve been lucky to have the most caring, amazing, and passionate professors and TAs recently). you just have take the initiative to connect with them, whether that’s through class participation or office hours. by connecting with your instructors, you’re more likely to feel comfortable asking clarifying questions and ask for help with assignments.

essentially, academic success at u of t requires a whole lot of self control and intrinsic motivation. in uni, it’s all up to you whether you go to lecture, whether you take notes, whether you stay on top of course content, and whether you take extra time to go to office hours. nobody else could care less if you don’t. so most people end up skipping class and falling behind, then cramming right before exams.

overall though, the big make-or-break factor is your program. you could have all the work ethic and motivation in the world, but if your program is difficult, all i can say is :D. for example, i have seen many fallen soldiers in rotman or life sci. some extremely smart and hardworking people i know met their fate with low marks there (in certain courses, not all courses!). but guys, don’t look at this and be discouraged, i also know some people in rotman and life sci with high gpas!

but for CCIT, i honestly haven’t heard anything about it being one of these notoriously hard programs. from the looks of it, it seems like you should be fine.

anyways, i wish someone had told me all that gpa stuff before i went into first year.

depends what your end goals are

finally, i think your choice really depends on where your future plans lie.

you mentioned you’re not sure if you’re going to do higher education. well, maintaining a high—or even good—gpa only really matters if you want to go to grad school. if you plan to go straight into the workforce, no employer is gonna ask for your gpa. they’re just going to ask for your experience. getting a degree from a reputable institution is going to hold more weight, and i’ve heard having a u of t degree looks really good for getting a job. u of t is number 1 in the country and ranked like, super high worldwide. (don’t ask me for an exact number).

wishing you luck with whatever you decide! i’m always here if you have more questions. here are some gold stars to launch you into uni life <33

over and out,

aska

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academic success, current student, leave of absence, mental health

you can do it!

November 15, 2022
my time in undergrad has been rough, in addition to much longer than expected; i don’t know how long it’s going to take to get my degree nowadays, and most of my friends have already finished undergrad. i haven’t been in a good place for a while now and haven’t been diagnosed with depression by a professional but everything about me absolutely reeks of it. i still want to continue with higher education, but i don’t know if i should take a break or continue at a relaxed pace. too heavy, or…?

hi there,

i think the best thing to do here is to get some professional advice — for mental health, academics, future plans, or whatever else you may have on your plate. your registrar is a good place to start as they can probably direct you to other resources and options, and you can also book an appointment with your family doctor or a clinician at the health & wellness clinic, and get confidential counselling over the phone through mySSP.

i think it’s a bit hard to know what path would be best for you right now without having a more detailed discussion. it all depends on how your health right now, what your priorities/goals are, possible accomodations… the list goes on. it’s complicated! so, really. reach out to these supports!!

now i may not be a medical professional or academic advisor, but i’d like to think i’m a bit of an expert in giving some perspective, emotional support, and wholesome gifs.

speaking of wholesome gifs:

Cat Ghost GIFfrom Cat GIFs

i think it’s important to remember that it’s ok to take your time, and rather than trying to push and do things “on time” (whatever that means, anyway) make sure you’re doing it in a way that works for you and your priorities — a very important one being your health!

i was trying not to get all into the realm of cliche quotes and ~positive thinking~, but since we’re here already i might as well drop a few more, like:

“it’s a marathon, not a sprint”

“comparison is the thief of joy”

“time is a social construct and plenty of students graduate in 4+ years anyway” (ok i just needed to fill a space here but still, it’s true.)

cliche? oh yeah. helpful? hopefully. easier said than done? yeah, probably that too. but you get the point.

there are probably other practical considerations that’ll affect your decision, like career goals, finances — all of that fun stuff. i think it’s important to think about these things first and figure out where you really want to be at the end of the day. do you want to enter a career that requires a degree? or maybe you’re really passionate about what you’re learning but just need the time, or the right time and circumstances, to work through it. if neither of these is true, maybe it’d be better to look into other options to really reach your goals. you may feel tied down to finishing your degree, but if it’s not what you really want/need, there could be better options out there — and tbh there’s no shame in jumping ship if this just isn’t working out for you.

if finishing your degree is your end goal, you’ll have to consider your health, finances, and academics this semester to decide whether to take a leave of absence or drop some courses. there’s still a bit of time until the course drop deadline (literally tomorrow!)

a leave of absence could be a good option if you really feel like you are floundering right now and need the time to rest/get things together. you’d have to drop all your courses this semester by the deadline, and cancel your registration on acorn. there might also be other ways to take a leave if you ask your registrar (they have their ways…)

on the other hand, if you feel like you could pull through for some/most of your courses this semester, then cr/ncr may be a good option, especially for more difficult or stressful courses. this way, you could save on the tuition you’ve paid so far while earning some more credits towards your degree. you could then take a leave of absence next semester if needed

there’s a lot of other stuff that can be done/planned out academics-wise too, like going over study strategies with an academic advisor, getting accomodations and support for health concerns or other extenuating circumstances, or changing to programs/courses that play to your strengths.

uni life is a depressing mess sometimes, but i think with the right advising and supports/resources, you can definitely plan things out to finish your degree in a manageable way, hopefully with a clear, realistic timeline — that way, there’ll be a real light at the end of the tunnel, and you won’t feel like things are just left hanging up ahead. (it really sounds like i’m just regurgitating some kind of smart goals framework thing right now but hey, i guess the theme of the day is cliches.)

anyhow, i hope this helped give you some ideas on how you could move forward. it’s a tough situation for sure, but i hope you know that it’s ok to take your time on this journey, and that there are tons of resources you can reach out to for support and advice.

rooting for you!

aska

Motivation Penguin GIFfrom Motivation GIFs
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academic success, current student, mental health

sending u positive energy (and all the resources i got)

June 2, 2022

Hi! I am a first year student and this year has been just bad. I moved to a whole new country and ig that had a bad effect on my mental health. I have failed 4 of my first year courses . I am not sure what to do.

hi there,

i’m so sorry to hear that your first year has been so difficult. i hope you’re doing better now, and maybe this can give you some comfort/advice.

honestly, the transition to university is tough to navigate for almost everyone, not to mention moving to a completely different country, or figuring out student mental health resources. it’s just a lot, so know that you’re not alone. first year is probably one of the most universally despised years from what i’ve heard, but it does get better. most people i’ve talked to get better at their study skills, meet more friends, and simply adjust more to uoft life over time.

the first thing that i would recommend for you is definitely to book an appointment with your registrar. they provide support for all sorts of student concerns and can help give advice on things like mental health resources, study strategies, finances, and more. they’re so so helpful and can definitely guide you in the right direction.

i’m sure you’ll be in good hands with your registrar in terms of resources, but i’ll also just include some that i know of which may help. your health definitely comes first, and uoft does have a whole list of mental health services which you may have heard of, as well as 24/7 phone counselling for all kinds of student concerns through my SSP, if you ever need to talk about anything. you may also want to see a medical professional or look into accessibility services accomodations to get the proper supports for any health concerns you might have. it can be tricky to find the mental health supports that work best for you, so i’d recommend starting early and trying out resources this summer to help maintain your health and wellbeing.

the academic success centre also has a lot of great programs to help build your study skills, like workshops, peer mentors, and learning strategist appointments. i’m not sure if you’re taking any courses right now, but you could also just book an appointment to reflect on your past school year and get some professional advice on how you could improve.

you’re probably also aware of the CIE at utsg, or international student centres at utsc and utm, which offer support especially for international students. i just have to highlight these programs from the CIE which look super wholesome, and could be a great way to connect with other students and build your support system here in toronto.

from what i know, these resources are open year round, so if you have any concerns or simply want to get on track to prepare for second year, definitely reach out to them! although the road ahead can be challenging, i think that with the right supports and strategies, you can definitely make it through!

Bh187 Bighero6 GIFfrom Bh187 GIFs

good luck,

aska

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academic success, chem

does anything make sense anymore

October 29, 2018

Hi,
I recently got my midterm mark back from CHM135 and as expected I did horrible. I got a 39.22% (it’s my fault for slacking off full-time). Apparently the labs are “easy marks” but I’ve gotten a 79% on my first one and my friend told me that it’s pretty bad. I’ve never really been good at labs, but I’m willing to improve.

I’m extremely anxious about the next midterm and the exam. Is it still possible to pass the course with a 60-65%? (How do I calculate how much I should get for next assessments to get this mark?).

Thank you.

——————————————

hi!

oh man, we’ve all been there. it’s tough, but you’ll get through it.

a great tool that i’ve used in the past to figure my sh*t out is this grade calculator. basically, you just enter the marks that you currently have and how much the assignments are worth, and it’ll calculate that you currently have in the course. there is also an option to see what you’d need to get on the rest of the assignments in order to achieve a certain mark and an option to see what your final course mark would be if you got a certain average on the rest of the assignments. i hope that makes sense. it’s hard to explain. just check out the link above.

i highly suggest going to your prof/ TA’s office hours to discuss strategies for success. i know that that’s super intimidating and scary, but trust me, it’s worth it. it’s always a good idea to talk to the people who’re actually grading you to get a sense of how you could get better grades. profs/ TAs are always happy to see students and to help them out.

you should also check out the academic success centre. they’re a great on-campus resource that is sadly and criminally underused. you can make appointments with learning strategists, attend workshops, and meet up with peer mentors– all of which can help you improve your grades and help you become more…. academically successful.

i hope this helps you out! good luck!

xoxo,

aska

PS- don’t forget that the last day to drop or CR/NCR any F courses without academic penalty is november 5th!!

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academic success, extra courses, repeating course

learning about learning

August 13, 2018

if I failed courses (first year) would you recommend not retaking them this year? or should I retake them? gpa is kinda awful right now.

——————————————

hi!

good news: if you want to take a course that you’ve already taken and failed, there shouldn’t be any issues for you enrolling in it on ACORN. keep in mind that you wouldn’t be able to enroll in a course that you’ve passed but wanna retake (let’s say, to get into a POSt) on ACORN by yourself. that’s something you’d have to see your registrar’s office about. those courses (courses you’ve passed but want to retake) will be marked as EXT (“extra”) which means it won’t count towards your GPA or your 20 credits needed to graduate.

i don’t know if i can explicitly recommend retaking or not retaking a course. that’s ultimately up to you; only you know why you’d wanna retake a course and only you can gauge whether or not you can boost your GPA by retaking the course.

i suggest that you should make an appointment with an academic adviser at your registrar’s office to discuss this. they can go through your academic record with you and help you come up with a plan of action– whether that be retaking courses you’ve failed or looking for new courses to take. they can also point you in the direction of some really cool academic resources. a resource that they may show you is the academic success centre. they’re awesome. you can attend workshops, make one-on-one appointments with learning strategists, and meet peer mentors. i highly suggest checking them out. learning about learning and how you can learn better is a great first step in improving your marks. at least, that’s what i’ve always found.

i hope this helps!

xoxo,

aska

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academic standing, academic success, failing, first year

it is not the end

February 26, 2018

Hi! I’m a first year, and due to my own personal issues I’ve completely bombed this year. I think I failed two courses first semester, and I’ve already missed two midterms this semester. God just writing that out gives me anxiety. I know I can’t excuse this behaviour, but I lost a loved one before exams first semester & it’s just been really hard but I’m ready to refocus on school, I’m just worried it might be too late. Will uoft kick me out? I don’t care if my gpa is low I just want to graduate

——————————————

hi!

i’m sorry that you’ve been having a rough first year. university can be really tough, especially when you’ve got other things going on as well.

so, u of t won’t “kick you out,” but they could put you on academic probation, depending on what your CGPA (cumulative GPA) and annual GPA at the end of this school year is. if it is lower than 1.50, you will be placed on probation. basically, this just means that you can only take up to 5.0 FCE during the fall/winter session and 2.0FCE during the summer. if, after being on probation, your CGPA is less than 1.50 and your annual/ sessional GPA is less than 1.70, you will be suspended for one calendar year. being suspended means that you can’t register as a student for the duration of your suspension. for more information about academic standing/ probation/ suspension, check out this link.

but in your case right now, you would only be put on probation at MOST. and this would only be if your CGPA dipped below 1.50. so, as long as your CGPA is above a 1.50, you’re okay.

i would also suggest making an appointment at your college/ faculty registrar’s office. they’ll be able to provide you with academic advice or refer you to other resources on campus. one of the resources they may refer you to is the academic success centre. i would also highly suggest that you check them out. you can make an appointment with learning strategists and mentors, go to a drop-in session with an academic adviser, or attend workshops. they can really teach you how to learn better, which may help out with some of the academic problems you’ve been facing. i highly suggest checking them out, they’re a criminally underused resource on campus.

i really hope this helps. please know that help is always available to those who seek it out. good luck!

xoxo,

aska

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academic success, failing, health and wellness, mental health

i’m rootin’ for you!

February 5, 2018

HI!!!
Sooo ya, Im in my 3nd year of study and I already failed 2 courses back in first year. I thought I was doing fine in this course (csc236) but then the marks came and it was abysmal. During this whole year I wasn’t feeling well, a lot of anxieties and some depression – I know, I only have myself to blame. I’d like to ask what are your suggestions on the actions I should take to deal with this 0.0gpa and the advice to do better?

Thanks ;(

——————————————

hi!

that sounds like a really tough situation to be in. i’m really sorry for how long this response has taken me, but i hope that you still find it helpful.

first of all, i’m going to suggest that you make an appointment with your registrar’s office. they can help you and/or point you towards resources that can help you. they should be your first point of contact whenever you’re feeling distressed (emotionally or academically). make an appointment, talk to one of the advisers there, and they’ll be able to give you more nuanced/ detailed/ personalized advice– more than i can give you (as a lowly student blogger).

for academics, i highly suggest checking out the academic success centre. you can make appointments with learning strategists, mentors, people who work in writing centres, and a whole bunch of folks that’re there to help. they can provide a lot of personalized advice and teach you all about HOW you learn and ways of learning more effectively. that should help you learn BETTER and (hopefully) boost your marks. they also have some walk-in appointments that you can make, if you don’t wanna make an actual appointment.

you should also check out health and wellness. in your question, you said that you aren’t “feeling well” and have “a lot of anxieties and some depression.” i think that you should check out their mental health services, even if you don’t think that you need to. mental health is super important, and the university doesn’t talk about it enough. mental health can really have a negative effect on your academics and getting to a healthy state of mind can help improve your academics as well.

i hope this was helpful. i think that, most importantly, you should make an appointment with an adviser at your registrar’s office– they are literally paid to help you. school, especially this school, can be really hard, and we all need a little bit of help sometimes. there’s no shame in it 🙂

good luck.

xoxo,

aska

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