Why Can't I Get My Schoolwork Done? Part 1

Here is a typical pattern that emerges in my practice with higher education students: The semester starts out great. The assignments are manageable and, at first, it’s easy to stay on top of them and submit everything on time. But as the semester progresses, deadlines begin to slip. Readings and writing responses pile up. Seemingly all at once, there is a tremendous amount of work to get done in a very short amount of time. The anxious feelings begin and the thoughts that ‘This semester is going to end just like the last one’ exacerbate the stress and make it even harder to get the work done.

There are a few reasons why this may happen. First, it is important to notice whether it is a one-time occurrence or a pattern. If it is a one-time occurrence, it is likely that there is something going on outside of school that is taking up mental space. Planning a wedding, having a baby, caring for a sick family member, or moving homes during a semester can take up a lot of time and attention, which leaves less of those resources for schoolwork. It might be wise to modify courseload if there is an impending big life change that could affect the ability to succeed at school.

If, however, this is a pattern that seems to repeat itself more often than not, it can be worthwhile to explore why. Typically, falling behind on college and graduate level coursework happens either because of a lack of executive functioning/organizational skills or because of negative or complex emotions getting in the way (or both). The rest of this post will deal with the skills, and Part 2 will explore the emotions.

Executive functioning skills are the tools that we use to get things done. They allow us to move from the moment of realizing there is a task to be done to the moment of completion. Executive functioning skills include, but are not limited to, goal setting, focusing attention on the task (as opposed to distractors), managing time constraints, holding and manipulating information to solve problems, and sticking with even the boring and tedious elements of the task.

Some students in college or beyond find that there is a particular skill associated with executive functioning that they never fully developed. For students who are especially bright or gifted, the demands placed by elementary, middle, and high school were manageable enough that the deficit did not interfere. When these students get to college or graduate school, however, the demands become much higher. The volume of reading is much larger; the writing assignments are more extensive and complex; class time itself is significantly longer. Suddenly, minor difficulties can become significant problems.

If this is the case, it is helpful to isolate which specific skill is missing or needs sharpening. As an example, here is a broad outline of the skills required to complete a stereotypical higher education assignment: a reading response.

• Consult planner/list of assignments

• Pick the assignment to work on [in this case, reading response]

• Settle down in an environment conducive to getting work done

• Identify the components of this task [in this case: read, plan response, type up response, post response]

• Determine the amount of time needed to complete the entire assignment

• Begin the task

• Stick with the task even when it is annoying or tedious

• Take breaks that are restorative but not unnecessarily long

• Return from a break to the rest of the task

• Complete the task

• Submit it once it is complete, without excessive reviewing

Isolating which skill or skills are lagging behind can be done by monitoring oneself during an attempt to complete an assignment. When is the resistance or sense of slog setting in? That will inform where remediation may be necessary. You may be able to improve some of these skills on your own, using mindfulness. Bringing your attention to the present moment can help you notice, without negative judgment, that you may be veering off course. For example, you might take a moment every ten minutes to check in with yourself: are you still on-task? How long has your break been going on for? Are you re-writing the same sentence over several times or are you proceeding through the various ideas you want to convey? This act of noticing alone can be a powerful tool; it allows you to decide what to do with this next moment in front of you instead of being carried away by the tide of passing time.

When mindfulness alone does not suffice, it is helpful to consult with a professional executive functioning coach or therapist to help make behavioral changes. These professionals should help identify problem areas, optimize the working environment based on person-specific preferences and challenges, and improve upon the lagging skills, by teaching you skills you may not have or by using the power of positive reinforcement to motivate you to get through it. Of course, it is important to determine if there is a more pervasive attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,  which is experienced as an overall deficit in executive functioning that negatively impacts many areas of life, as opposed to a skills deficit in a particular area. While children are being diagnosed earlier in life with ADHD, there are skill young adults who struggle through until they reach a higher level of education before being diagnosed with ADHD. It is also important to rule out learning disabilities, which can affect reading, writing, or math skills. Therapists and executive functioning coaches can help those with ADHD and learning disabilities too, but knowing the correct diagnosis can help guide treatment and set effective treatment goals.