I'm really overwhelmed with schoolwork

I think that the tag is awesome. Add something here and I will get back with a proper answer tomorrow night!

@exuberantBlackberry9105

I sure can do that if you'd like. Here you go, @Cottonn 💙

Ok, remember that I do studying and such for a living so I am giving advice that works really well for me and other people who study all the time. There is no need to stop Cups no matter how stressed you are. It will make things worse and then you really won't be able to study.

The big key when you are overwhelmed is NEVER looking down at the pile. It will always seem like too much schoolwork.

Instead, constantly break things into smaller chunks. Try to avoid doing any one subject for too long. Vary them so you do a little of all of them. Also take breaks, maybe 15 minutes every hour or two. Get up and walk around. Do Cups for 15 minutes and set yourself an alarm. Eat a small snack or drink water. Then get back to work. You will actually stay more focused and you will get more solid studying done.

You can do this!

@exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 Thank you so much, Vase. I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for the reassurance that I don't need to stop cupsing. You're right that it will probably just make things worse. Apologies for this very late reply, I have to say I've not been on the forums for the past few days, though I've still hopped on Cups quite a bit. I'm sorry, I know that's not fair.

I shouldn't look at the pile? I don't think I can help it, the pile sits right on my study table....

Breaking things into smaller chunks and switching subjects sounds like a good idea. Most of the time I just do one subject the whole time so maybe I could try changing things up a bit.

I actually think I take a bit too much of breaks. 10 mins break after every 20 mins, and that's quite a lot, I know. But studying for like 45 mins continuously feels like a lot and I get distracted. And also any break shorter than 10 mins feels too short for me.....

I don't like walking around during those breaks because that's not fun and then my mother complains that I'm just roaming around and not studying. But I do get up and stretch and come on Cups.

Just one really big problem I have with breaks is if my mother is here sitting in the room. That means I can't come on Cups, because I try not to use the phone in her presence, and it also means I can't just stretch because then I get comments I don't like hearing. So I just have no choice but to continue studying even when its break time. Then once she finally leaves the room, I end up feeling like I didn't get the break I deserved and then I end up taking a break, a very long one when it's supposed to be study time and that messes up the studying for pretty much the entire evening and I end up wasting a lot of time and just can't get back to work that evening. Any advice to deal with this?

Haha, you really think I can do this, Vase? I have homework of all six subjects to complete this weekend.

Absolutely. Praise yourself for each little bit of homework that you do. That is what involved in not looking down too hard at the pile.

It is fine if you can only go a half hour or so before needing a break. Try to get it to that mark followed by a 5 minute break the first half hour and a 10 minute break the second half hour. You can even set an actual timer and tell your mom that you are trying a new study technique. If she balks, then ignore her. I would definitely make stretching part of those breaks. You don't have to get up but closing your eyes, breathing, moving your arms above your head can also cause you to reset. Then start again with a DIFFERENT subject. Rotate them. @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 Haha, it's really hard to praise myself for those so little bits of homework done. I remember once I wrote 19 pages in my science notebook in one day. So I feel like unless I do that much work in one day, or move any book from the incomplete pile to the complete pile, I don't deserve praise.

Mmm I see. I guess you're suggestiong I do 30 mins and then a 5 mins break then again 30 mins studying and a 10 min break, instead of 20 mins and then a 10 min break every time. I'll see if i can do that but it sounds like a lot so I guess for now, I'll just stick to 20 mins studying and a 10 min break...... I actually set alarms instead of timers, so I have an alarm set for 5:30 pm every day and then 5:50 pm, then 6 pm and so on.

Well, I can't tell that to my mother. She believes the proper way to study is to sit down and do all the studying for the day and then do whatever you want once you're done. So telling her that I'm trying something else would be very awkward, so I'm not telling her about it. Which means I cant just ignore her and get on with my break when she's here. I have to study (or at least fake study) while she's here or maybe pass the time talking to her. But then most of the time she just comes here and sits with her phone so I can't even just pass the time talking to her so I have to study or fake study, if you know what that means.

Work on the praising yourself part. It really does help.

Move your body a bit in your chair during your breaks (or close your eyes and do some deep breathing). Those kinds of things can help too and your mom won't notice as much.

The biggest thing to try is switching around what you are doing every half hour. You will get more done that way because you won't dread the bad stuff quite as much since you aren't doing it for that long. It will help you daydream less and get things done more quickly. @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 I will work on that, hehe. But it's not easy.

Hmm that's a nice idea. My mother won't probably notice that much. Those things might be less rewarding than something like Cups, but yeah, something is better than nothing.

I will certainly try switching subjects every half an hour. I hope it helps. I just have a question, should I rotate between 2 or 3 subjects in one day? Because I have total 6 (technically 8) subjects to deal with and if I rotated between all 8, I won't be able to get anything signifinact done for each subject separately.

Yes, I like the idea of around 3 subjects a day. Keep reminding yourself that each little bit gets you to your goal. If you have 10 pages of homework in one subject - half of a page is a cause for celebration. If you can come up with some kind of mini reward system like taking a sip of water or eating an orange segment each time you will relax more and get more done.

@bestVase7265 Yeah, I probably will try doing to 2 or 3 subjects (maybe 4 if some subjects have very little to be done) for school days, maybe 3 or 4 on weekends. I am trying to praise myself for even little work done haha, feeling a sense of accomplishment really does help. Mini reward system? Mmm I guess I use mostly Cups as a reward. Water wouldn't feel like a reward because either ways, I'm drinking water even while studying if I feel thirstly or something. Food - definitely not haha, the food I do eat is already too much for me, I never have extra place in my stomach to eat anything else. But I guess Cups does well as a reward kinda thing. But then I use just like that sometimes too, I wouldn't want to restrict emotional support as a reward. I do have to say that I've been able to get more homework done in the last 2 days than I normally do. But I feel like I'm missing out on Cups because I have lots of things to get back to. I usually respond to the shorter and simpler things first, so don't feel bad if I don't respond to you quickly all the time, I will always get to you when I'm able.

I would never feel bad. Short Cups reading and writing is an excellent reward. And you can keep it short.

I am so happy that schoolwork for the last few days has gone well. Keep up the good work! @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 Thank you so much, Vase. I'll be honest that I haven't been able to keep up the good work today because I've been too tired and sleepy, but I guess it's alright. Thanks again.

That is what you are looking for: "alright". It doesn't have to be perfect or done completely for you to praise yourself for doing something. Each piece off the pile is always worth celebrating. @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 Yeah but today again I haven't done anything much and it doesnt feel so alright anymore. I think one more thing that's affecting how much would i get done, other than my tiredness and sleepiness is my mother's behaviour towards me. On days when she's kinder, I normally feel better and get more work done. On days she's not being good to me, I hardly get anything done.... But I guess there's nothing I can do about it so I'll let it be.

The only person that you can control is you. So think in terms of deep breathing or something when she is being mean.

I have confidence you can overcome her. Let's start building that confidence in you. You already know that she is wrong about you. So build from there. @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 Haha, I do agree that the only person I can control is myself. Mmm yeah, thanks. ❤️

I hope that today was a better day!  @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 Not really, to be honest. I mean, it's 3:30 pm right now so I still have the evening to get some work done, but things aren't going great so far. But based on our time zone difference, I guess you're talking about yeaterday (Saturday) and yeah, things went alright yesterday. I wasn't able to take proper breaks as decided because my mother was sitting here helping me with maths, but anyway, I did get some work done yesterday so I guess it's okay.

Remember each time that you get stuff done that you are worthy of celebrating. I know that the work becomes a little overwhelming when you start feeling guilty and stressed about it. But rather than saying "I guess yesterday was ok" you say "Yesterday was doable, tonight can be too, so can tomorrow." Little breaks are critical to maintaining a basic cruising speed. You are doing this okay, I am here to cheer you on.

Any little moments of peace today? We had a really rainy day and couldn't even get outside. But I took a break and watched a short nature documentary with my husband and son. It helped me to focus later. @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 Well, all I can really do is try to celebrate every time I get a little bit done. But it's super hard. "Yesterday was doable, tonight can be too, so can tomorrow." Oooh that sounds nice actually. Mmm I know breaks are crucial, but it's very difficult to squeeze them in when my mother is teaching me maths. But I'm trying. Awww thank you so much for being here to cheer me on.

Well, it's still just morning today and I've had a terrible start to the day with a terrible stomachache and lots of yelling from my mother, so it's hard to find a good moment (I hope that's what you mean by peace moment, because I am never at peace) but maybe I could say it was nice going out and standing in the balcony for 2 mins. Woah, you had a rainy day? I don't know about you, but I like rain (as long as it doesn't rain 24 hours straight, then it's boring). But if rained so heavy that you couldn't even go outside, then it sounds a bit borning. But I'm glad you could watch a nature documentary, I hope you liked it. 🤍

(By the way, would you want to move this convo over to our own little thread?)

Yes, we can move any of this over to another thread any time that you want.

That was exactly the little moment that I was suggesting - two minutes where you were focused on your senses and looking at the world is awesome! Keep looking for those little things. Mine today was biting into a clementine orange at breakfast. The rest of the day was pretty hectic, but I got what I needed to done.

I am sorry about your mom yelling and the stomachache. Neither of those sound fun and they could very much be related to one another. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit easier on that front.

But you made it through today. Can you think of one thing that you accomplished? Even a little homework is good. Even though my day was busy, I still managed to get to the point where I could do a little course prep for a few weeks from now in doing a little reading on wild turkeys. Sometimes the stuff I teach is a little weird.  @exuberantBlackberry9105

@bestVase7265 mmm let's just continue discussing this in our space. ❤️

@Cottonn Hey there, thank you so much for your reply.

Well, I figured I won't go on break from Cups because I think it will probably make me feel worse and make it harder to focus in homework. Cups probably is essential for my survival. So I just try to come on here less often, so my replies are pretty slow right now. I might respond to some things on one day and other things another day, don't take any of that personally, okay?

I know I shouldn't spend all of my time studying, haha. I certainly don't spend all my time studying. " i know how it is to keep scrolling" Woah, I know, hehe. 

Oh, it's nice to hear that finishing of your work and then doing whatever you want works well for you. For me, though, my work kinda feels endless, so I usually never finish everything no matter what, so that way doesn't usually work out for me.

@Cottonn I don't  really have a "solution" yet but I'm trying to do 20 mins studying and 10 mins break and so on to get more homework done. It works well on some days, and on some of the more tired days, like today, it doesn't work. But yeah, it's something.

@Cottonn Thank you Cottnie. Yeah, I agree on that, haha.

@exuberantBlackberry9105 

Hi, I am currently a Junior in High School, and I don't mean to pressure you with more stress, but highschool is much tougher. Not only are you going to be loaded with school work, there will be club activities, sports practices, hobbies, volunteer, and etc... You will find it extremely difficult to balance school, personal, and social life. Junior in high school will be the toughest year of all becuase this year will be the last opportunity to prep for college and school grades are exceptionally important this year. How I balance my life and time is that I sacrafice a day of my weekend if absolutely necessary, and allow myself small portions of mental break throughout the day. I lack self discipline, so I ask my phone to help me, and I do this by setting time restrictions on my phone, so that I am forced to focus on school or other activities. Another way is to prioritize the urgency when it comes to homework, and ultimately using your break and lunch time in a smarter way.

@CatastrophicCat262 Hi there, thanks for your reply. Haha, I know, the next few years of my school life will probably be harder than how hard it in now. That scares me a lot. I'm just in 8th grade, I'll be in 9th grade in April, and I can't imagine how hard things will be. They're already hard enough to be honest.

Thank you for sharing how you manage. It's great that setting time restrictions on your phone helps you. It's unfortunately not something I'm able to do on my phone, but thanks anyway. But yeah, I do prioritise the urgency for homework, I try to finish what's more important first. Sometimes I go wrong with that, but that happens. I'm not sure how I'd use break time and lunch time in a smarter way though. Like lunch time or breakfast in school? All of it is spent eating for me, we only get 10 mins for breakfast and 25 mins for lunch and I'm a slow eater.