TIRED

Dear Sean,

Ok, so I have a little bit of an issue. I am a sophomore in college with a very busy schedule. I usually have some sort of homework to do every night. BUT I can never seem to concentrate on it until the early morning hours.. In the meantime, I am on Facebook, checking Perez, and watching videos on YouTube. It makes everything more difficult to have to cram in all of my work the couple of hours before its due while being tired. Do you have any suggestions to help me concentrate on my homework??
Task Is Rarely Ever Done

Dear TIRED,

First off, don’t let this issue get you down; a lot of students have issues with time management. Trust me when I say that I know, because I’m one of them. I’ll pass along some of the advice that I’ve been given, although I must warn you that this issue doesn’t have one solution that is right for everyone. Many people say that managing your time becomes easier when you break down your day into segments and plan each one accordingly. Personally I’ve never liked this solution because I feel like I spend more time preparing to do something than actually doing it. Plus this solution doesn’t generally allow for a lot of flexibility.

I’ve found that the time management solution that works best for me is balancing those things that I know I have to do with things that I want to do. In your case this may mean that you can only check Facebook/Perez/You Tube a certain number of times per night, and the rest of the time should be devoted to studying or completing your assignments. If you know you work better in the morning hours before you have class, maybe you should consider going to sleep earlier instead of spending time online, and then waking up more refreshed and better able to complete the tasks at hand.

It seems like you might be a morning person, which means you probably kick-start your day with some kind of caffeine like many people in your age group. I won’t tell you to give this practice up completely, as often that does more harm than good, but I will say that it’s not the only way to wake yourself up and become alert. If you don’t already eat breakfast it’s a good idea to start. If you do, look at the foods you eat and see what changes you can make. Breakfast foods that are high in fat leave you feeling more sluggish, and those high in sugar may help you get going, but soon wear off and leave you worse off than when you started. Try to include more protein in your morning diet; it’s hard to digest which makes your body really wake up in order to accomplish it.

I’m not a big proponent of medication, but if your problems persist it might be wise to consult your doctor and see if there’s anything you should be doing differently. There are several over the counter vitamin supplements that they say can help wake you up that you can also ask your doctor about.

Finally, the best piece of advice I have to give you is to do your best to stop stressing yourself out. This is much easier said than done, but stress is more detrimental to your cause than it is helpful. It may be a factor as to why you can’t concentrate at night and why you’re so tired in the morning. Try pampering yourself a bit from time to time in order to relax and see if that helps you to better go about your day.