Okej, I know I can't be the only NF who has trouble working consistently. I was hoping that with maturity and experience, conscientiousness would come. However, my senior year in high school is coming to a close, and I can't afford to fail a few college courses before I whip myself into shape.
So, could any of you provide me with some useful tips on:
- setting a routine
- avoiding procrastination
- focusing more on the "here and now."
Basically, I'm looking for techniques on developing my SJ functions that don't involve sheer will power and force.
When I have stuff to get done, I almost always end up working on it about 4 hours before I go to bed. That way, I always get in 4 hours of work and if I finish early, I can go play until bed. I think I wait until night because for some reason daylight makes me want to nap or go play...I just can't work consistently with the sun is up (unless I'm in a class).
When I study, I always do it at night. I remember stuff a thousand times better if I sleep on the information almost immediately after I've absorbed it.
What also really REALLY helps if you have a problem remembering stuff on exams, is to NOT study on the day of the exam (or at least two hours before the class). Do something else that will let you relax. My theory is that if you do not know it two hours before the test, you sure as hell won't know it if you try to cram it in right before class. It's nice because you end up feeling less stressed out about the exam itself. And you get to walk in, sit down with no notes, and feel confident in your knowledge (because you aren't the one looking anxiously over your notes). I told my brother to do these things for tests, and his issues with stressing out about them gradually went away. =)
As for working consistently, I never do exactly. Even with my evening routine, I tend to work in spurts. Some days I'll throw myself into something for a few hours and then reach a point (and I think it's different for everyone) where I feel like I've mentally stopped right in front of a wall...I cannot work very well when I'm at that point. And then some days I don't do any work at all.
I procrastinate all the time. It's because the pressure of having to complete something quickly tends to fuel me. Otherwise I dabble at whatever it is I'm doing. (Like say I have a painting due next week. I could start on it and maybe mess around with basic colours, but I won't really, actually grind it out until it's a couple of days before it's due.) The cool thing that happens then is I learn how to streamline a lot of my processes so things get done more efficiently.
I rarely ever focus on the "here and now"...the only thing I can say is go read Aldous Huxley's
Island and you might end up with a couple of those birds in your head saying "Here and now, boys. Here and now." (Which is what I tell myself when I'm wandering a little too far from reality.)