Hi there forumites! I'm getting ready to enroll in college the second time around, and I've been trying to compile some information about how to succeed in school. In high school I hardly ever had to study, which is the reason I didn't do very well in college the first time around; it was a drastic change for me. This time I've finally decided on what I believe is the proper major, as well as being more motivated to succeed. However, I'm really not sure how to study, or manage my time. I'd like advice from anyone who can offer it, and particularly suggestions for an INFP.
I have a problem staying motivated, and keeping up with a schedule. Any resources would be greatly appreciated!
As an INFP, the things that hinder me from proper work/study habits are:
Inferior Te: Makes every new assignment look insurmountable, making me tend to procrastinate.
Auxiliary Ne: This is an open-ended, churning, brainstorming function. It dislikes coming to closure. So when I do finally get involved in a project, I tend to work on the project too long, try to be perfectionist about it, and end up mismanaging my time. I don’t observe deadlines, I burn out on long projects and leave them half-finished, etc.
How to handle these problems: Use Te properly.
Perhaps the most important trick I’ve learned is to break tasks into 20- or 30-minute chunks. I’ll work on two or three projects at the same time, doing 20 minutes on one and then stopping and doing 20 minutes on the next. It results in kind of an ADHD feeling of skipping around too quickly; my Ne wants to dig in and linger on a task till it’s done.
But Te isn’t just about planning and organization; it’s also about knowing when to stop. Skipping around among multiple tasks keeps me fresh on each task; and breaking down large projects into such bite-sized tasks makes them easier to pick up and resume.
If a project look particularly daunting or lingers on my to-do list too long, I break it down into even smaller segments, as short as 5 minutes.
For example, on the same day that I get assigned a monster project, I take 5 minutes to simply gather the books and resources that I’ll need and put them in a single pile. Later that same day I’ll take another 5 minutes and crack open the books and identify what sections I’ll probably need. Later that same day, I’ll take another 5 minutes and sketch a few preliminary notes about how I want the final product to look (this is the start of an eventual outline). And so on.
The idea here is to start early and take a few tiny bites out of the big project. Even if I don’t make much actual progress, the project will be percolating in the back of my mind during the breaks. Ideas will start popping up, I’ll jot down more notes, and pretty soon the logjam breaks: I can see how the whole project will come together. Then I can start working on the project in 20-minute chunks as usual.
Anyway, that’s the single biggest trick I learned as an INFP for staying productive and plowing through lots of work in a “slow but steady†fashion.