So I'm starting to get my ass kicked in college. If I keep failing, I could potentially drop out. Also it's costing a ton of money to retake classes.

Through out my whole life I've been a C student with putting in super low amounts of efforts.

I don't think I ever had good study habits and discipline. I just got by with C's.

It's not just with school. But in all aspects of my life. My room is a big mess. (hoarders like but a mild case). Getting fat because of not working out. Started going out less and less. Becoming a hermit.

I have a lot of time on my hands and all i do is play video games, surf the web and watch tv with my free time.

Things will get better. Its just a matter of time. Do you have something that you really enjoy, other than watching tv and playing videogames? Is there something like a club you can do that activity at?

Allot of students go through this phase. Not sure why that is. My roommate is exactly the same, he just cant seem to get it together.

Do you have many or some friends? Do you do any drugs or drink a lot?

I greatly appreciate your empathy. But I don't think things will get better if I don't start changing.

I don't know how to change.

I used to have more friends, but I'm losing touch with a lot of them. I think I'm suffering from a combination of low self esteem and procrastination that keeps me from finding clubs + activities (which would be nice to have instead of playing games, but still doesn't solve the studying problem).

It's easy to stay in my comfort zone and not step into the unknown.

Don't really do drugs or drink. I've experimented with a couple of prescription meds because I thought they would help me. Drugs such as zoloft and provigil. I self diagnosed myself with adhd, depression, and social anxiety, but after trying the meds, I don't think they did much. Meds can't really change your mentality I realized.

First off, im not an expert, but i see some resemblence with myself and other people i know.

I agree with you that things will have to change, and yes, it takes a little effort, but not as lot as you might think.

First i would advise you to go out and seek help in the from of someone to talk to(maybe you already do). Then you can start working on things.

I would not pay to much attention to your selfdiagnosis. Go talk to someone and mention that you might think you are depressed, have adhd and social anxiety. They can help you with that.


I dont know how old you are, but i think these studying problems are really common, ive had them myself and have many friends who just did nothing for the first few years in college.

What the clubs and activities do, is in my opinion, give you something to do that you like, and can help you with your self-esteem and confidence. You meet new people, make you force yourself out of your comfort zone. You experience joy, and if you have joy in life, it becomes way easier to do other things and go out and develop yourself.

So, i guess what im saying is: its a really common problem you have, dont feel too bad about it, and seriously, go find someone to talk to. I dont know where you live, but you can ussualy find someon through your general practitioner, and if you feel uncomfortable about that, you can find someone through your university.

Think about what is causing you to act this way, and if that cause is really something you cant do anything about. Also think about what you have to lose.


Also working out in a fitness sucks, is there any sport that you like/are good at? If not, no biggie, alot of people dont really enjoy sport. Its nothing to feel bad about.

I dont know, probably half of what i said doesnt make any sense. But your first priority should be to go and talk to someone about your problems.

Do you actually want to go somewhere in school or do you just have nothing better to do? If you aren't doing anything social and don't have a career plan you should just work for a couple years. Just getting the degree with bad grades is only going to help with a few really practical majors, even less so if you're at a crappy school. Having a clear goal in mind will motivate you when you start to feel miserable and want to pack it. I have to study for a massive exam in between other classes so 100% of the time I could be doing something which could easily be soulcrushing, but I want to be an actuary and the exam is essential to my career so it motivates me to put in the work and to use my free time wisely since I don't have a ton of it.

That being said I still procrastinate a fair amount. Physically going to the quiet section of the library helps. If at all possible work without a computer. Struggle through the first couple times you want to open 2+2 and it will become easier and easier. On the other hand every time you make a bad decision you get weaker and weaker until you expect to suck. Try to get up fairly early and do work during the day it's much harder to get back to work late at night unless something is due and you're gonna be screwed tomorrow if you don't do it. Don't dick around between classes if you have something you should get done by the next morning.

Therapy could be good if you can get it free/cheap. Meds are most likely gonna be bull****. I would stay away

I feel like this thread is more about motivation than procrastination specifically, but I'd say to set small benchmarks for yourself as opposed to having any big goals. set daily (if not more frequent) goals for yourself. Minimizing the seemingly daunting tasks is super important imo

v solid advice there. You`ve already accepted the problem and seeking help which is great.

Personally I think motivation is an abstract noun- drive is the important thing to have- being motivated when it counts

Adderall. You'll thank me later.

Wait, therapy is not covered in the US? No wonder people grab theyre meds without a doctor.

^ a lot of universities have it setup for free.

I've never used it personally, but through friends I've heard its kind of ridiculous; you can only have X(low number) of meetings per semester, and the waiting lists are insanely long.

univ therapy services (sample size = 1 IME) are terrible. See a private doctor if you wanna go that route.

I've done the univ therapy for one semester. I was in worst shape then. It's 8 sessions per semester. I think it sort of helped. I'll try again.

I forced myself to clean my room in the past 2 days. Still haven't finish, but it feels good to get something done. Hasn't been this clean in years.

I've been checking out procrastination books, and watching youtube videos on the subject. Seems like it's just a matter of just doing it and having the motivation like you guys have said.

I think it's very easy to live in the now, and not think long term.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Sounds like you shouldn't be in college at least right now. One of the biggest issues with the american system is that everyone thinks they should go to college, when a ton of people aren't ready or really shouldn't go (trade schools or just working is probably a good/better option for many people in college who are near the bottom of the barrel or don't like school).

You are just really wasting your time and your money by being in college (debt is a bitch to get rid of especially when you don't really get a very good degree with your schooling and you are setting yourself up to be in a much worse position than you would be without college at all). You should really do something else that you enjoy more. Maybe go to a trade school. You have coasted and you really don't care about much. You really need to learn what its like to be without a college education and see what you can and can't do so you can value a proper education or do something that does not require an education.

Use to be the same. GPA dropped to 1.6 at lowest point, did nothing but play WoW and ate ****ty food.

During my final 2 years of college I started to become interested in finance, which gave me a new lease on school and I guess gave me optimism/excitement for the future. My interest in finance actually started outside of academia, then realized, damn, I can make this my primary focus of study and major in it. Pretty much where it started for me. I moved and found decent roommates and started to become more social, going out and getting shiitfaced once or twice a week...(without a doubt will be very good for you, despite 'professionals' on yahoo answers advising you to attend AA meetings). Also am fairly good friends with most of the students in finance, which really helps when all of your social based friends are trying to be police officers, elementary teachers, or personal trainers (I know this sounds arrogant). Also lost damn near 90 pounds during this process and still going.

Just graduated this semester (pushed my ass to the brink the last 2 years in order to graduate on time). Got my GPA up to a 2.9 overall (2.25 after the first 2 years made it almost impossible to get higher), and more importantly have a 3.6 in business school.

You don't need therapy, you don't need drugs, you just need to figure out how to get a life (and I mean this in the best possible way, not an insult in any shape or form)

I agree 100% with everything, but I've gone so far that I'd think my family would be immensely disappointed and upset if I dropped out now. All the time and money wasted. I'm in year 3/4 (actually I've been in college longer but I fail classes, don't take enough credits, wasted time figuring out what major) so I want to buckle down and finish.

Any opinions on most cost efficient AA degrees or high paying occupations with little "start up" cost?

update - room is 100% clean for the 1st time in years and I'm starting to exercise again. Summer school will start soon, so we'll see if I can start studying a lot more.