Some people can do the work and just get that A. However, that’s not most people. Most of us have difficulty and some, A LOT of difficulty, especially those with creative minds.
Having a creative mind means always living in the now, following the current thought, and losing the past and the future. This makes it difficult to accomplish tasks. But humans are blessed with a mind, and you can plan for those mistakes and if you can overcome those limitations, you can do anything.
So if you want A’s and you want to get homework done and projects completed and avoid procrastination, you’re going to need a strategy and a plan, and here is that plan.
The problem with getting things like projects and homework going is that sometimes you lack motivation. The metaphorical rock of a task for someone with a creative mind or someone who isn’t Type A is much larger than the one for others but you are also weaker in pushing it. However, you can do several things to get it going.
- Prepare the rock.
It is harder to move a square than rolling a rock, so spend some time preparing for the task, break up the homework into small pieces so when you get the ball rolling, it keeps rolling. For instance, if I had 100 pages to read in a week, I’d break it into 20 pages a day. So if you have 10 problems, make it 2 problems a day. That way you don’t try to do too much and feel like you make progress. Just the plan will make the square boulder feel smaller and more round.
- Use leverage.
A lever will move a rock better than pushing it, so what is your lever? Perhaps telling others to make pressure on yourself, becoming accountable to others. Create deadlines that force you to get it going. I like to write reminders and set alarms or put things into the calendar. I have a calendar for the day and the week so I constantly see the goals and mark off the days and check off accomplishments, that way you can see the ball rolling. Find your levers and tools, write them down, and use them. Write them down because you will forget them and it is good to remind yourself. - Avoid and Use Inertia.
Getting the ball rolling is hard, but to keep it rolling is a lot easier. It is important to not stop because we know that getting it going is hard for us. Keep the rock going with a checklist, with daily goals that you MUST hit, with check-ins and games like a list of all the days you hit the goal. I create weekly and daily and monthly goals that I get to cross off. Remember that if you stop for a day or two, you will lose a lot of things from your brain. Keep a journal to write daily progress and write notes about things that went right and wrong. It doesn’t have to be a long entry. Journal app Day One allows me to make a quick one to two sentences about my progress, my thoughts on my progress, and things I can do better for tomorrow. The main thing is to keep moving and remember, if you did stop, you will move again, once you get the ball rolling.
- Use Gravity.
You can push a ball on a flat surface to a goal, or you can raise it up on a ramp and let it roll down by itself. If you set up the bag before you go to school or put shoes outside your bed to run in the morning, or set the floss in front of you so you see it, or as I, for instance, put the calculator in a visible area to always see what I have to do. If you organize the day around your actions and goals, you can have them be on autopilot so you don’t have to think of “what do I do now”, the day will roll along like a boulder down a ramp. So think ahead and prepare things so you don’t have to work against gravity for the things that are hard and let them sort out. - Get Help.
The Egyptians used sheer numbers to build the pyramids, so if you are undertaking a big project or have a big test use help as well. Sometimes you will have to recruit others and know that you will have to help them, but without them, you will not get to the goal as fast. If certain things are too hard for you, find someone who likes to do it, like I have someone filling out paperwork at work because I forget it and they are good at it. If your group you can find someone who is good at keeping track of something in a project or get a study group with people who like helping each other and are good at subjects and will keep you on task. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, never measure yourself on the weakness but instead on strength and let others use their strengths to help you, it will make you both feel good.
So remember, everything in life is just physics, including achieving your goal. For some it’s harder to meet them, but not if you prepare your task, use tools to make it, avoid inertia by not stopping and using it by going forward, using gravity to let things be automatic, and getting help to get around weaknesses. If you do that, you will be unstoppable. Some people have a harder time focusing and getting things done. But it happens often that if those people put their minds to getting around their limitations, they will be even more successful than those who don’t have to work at it. Because you’re not dumber, you’re just better with the big ideas, but big ideas need details and for that, big idea people, make strategies.
seven year degree 