Talk to Yourself About Getting Work Done

Are you coming to the end of your courses and feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated, burned out, and/or upset? Do you find yourself not where you thought you would be with your grades or course accomplishments to date?

Are you mad at yourself by your answers to these questions, because you haven’t achieved what you set out to do? If that is the case, then you will be happy to hear these three steps to get back on track, be rid of your anger, and achieve the goals that you hoped for at the courses’ start.

(Photo Credit: Frank Sonnenberg)

First, you have to have a good, honest talk with yourself about the details of your troubles. What work haven’t you done at all? What work have you done partially or in a half-baked manner? What do you have left to do? After you have looked at what work has to get done, figure out how to do it, including assessing the parts you do not understand.

Next, email or call your teacher, using the teacher’s preferred method of contact. Find out if you can still submit any of your work. If you can, state what you believe to be missing or poorly done and how you plan to fix or finish it. Ask for any help you might need, if any of the work is confusing.

Third, you need to set a schedule of course work time and stick to it. This requires knowing you will give up time that you like to spend doing other things, but that is the only way to get your course work done and accomplish what you hoped to do in the first place. Do the work that you do not enjoy first. Use a timer and build in short breaks. Do not alter or lessen the time set in your schedule; there is no time left for that now.

It never feels good to set out to achieve something and not do it. Taking courses is the same as any other goal; it requires hard work, including parts that are not enjoyable. Deciding to pass a course is exactly that: making a decision to achieve success. The only way to achieve success is also exactly that: DO IT.

Once done, the feeling of achievement will justify the pain of your hard work and overtake the anger you have at yourself for not doing the work in the first place. Often the time spent being upset about not achieving goals takes up more time than it would have taken to get the work done. In the end, working hard feels good, and the rewards of achievement make it all worthwhile.