ULPT What do you do when you're completely overwhelmed with assignments?
Posted by Liliana1523@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 21 comments
Genuinely curious, when you're drowning in school work, how do you get it all done? Like essays, discussion posts, random case studies... it just piles up. I’m not talking about procrastination, I mean those weeks where even trying your best isn’t enough. Do you power through, ask for extensions, or find other ways to get it handled? Not trying to fail, but also not trying to have a breakdown over a sociology paper.
Tricky_Cup3981@reddit
Find some Adderall and go to a library. Bring headphones for classical music, turn off the phone. Set a time limit for myself for each assignment otherwise I'll be a perfectionist and end up doing a couple perfectly rather than cranking out a bunch that are perfectly fine.
I've had friends do the smaller assignments (e.g., discussion responses). It helps to get rid of the fluff so I can focus on the major assignments.
I make lists for everything so I can prioritize in order of due date. But that's more so I don't panic and think I have way more due than I really do.
HumanBeeing76@reddit
You ask for unethical. So try to get a diagnosis (like adhd, asd, dyslexia) and try to get benefits
faerialreevus@reddit
Using ChatGPT for extra unethicalness, would take some load off their back
unplanned-kid@reddit
I usually try to grind it out, but when it’s too much, I offload some stuff. I’ve used Nerdify a few times iit’s kind of like texting a friend who happens to be really good at writing research papers. Not perfect, but gets the job done.
SweetGummiLaLa@reddit
I found out how many days I can go without sleep
asicarii@reddit
Enjoy it while it’s so easy.
Adventurous_Bonus917@reddit
you can't do it often, but (when submitting digitally) you can submit an intentionally corrupted document to get an extra few days.
The-Leaky-Pen@reddit
but be sure to check your syllabus to see if your professor has anything about that. some of mine made a point to say “corrupted documents will be counted as late”
feryoooday@reddit
I had a friend ghost write some essays for me. I think just knowing I had one or two less things on my plate was enough to allow my poor brain to finally focus on what needed to be done. I also finally had to go through disability services to get extended and private testing time.
Someone writing my essays was not ethical at all. However I still learned from the class and it was for my minor anyways. But also not the end of the world imo. Better than cheating off of someone else who hasn’t consented to you using their work.
The ethical choice is to go to your professors and tell them you’re struggling and ask if there’s anything they can do to help you or if there’s any tips and tricks that you can do to help yourself. My final year I was able to get my singular term paper to count for 2 classes because I went to the professor asking for help. Turns out you weren’t even supposed to be able to take those 2 classes together because they are so hard. So the professor in the lower level class said he’d use the paper from the higher level one instead of me writing a separate paper for his. Got an A.
Working-on-it12@reddit
Go for a walk and scream obscenities to clear my head. Make and torture a voodoo doll representation of the person who is responsible for the overwhelming part. Burn the person in effigy. Learn curses from your witchy friends and curse people.
Then, when you have that out of your system, make a list, prioritize, delegate when possible and get to work.
VeterinarianNo5972@reddit
Honestly? I’ve used Nerdify a couple of times when I was completely swamped. You just text them what you need and they connect you with someone who helps out. Not the cheapest, but definitely saved me when I had 3 essays due in one week.
Letters_to_Dionysus@reddit
do a hard one till you run out of steam and then switch to an easy assignment so you get something in the w column. then repeat. prioritize by due date otherwise
imapoopmonster25@reddit
do the work. it's simple, but it's not easy.
theythemnothankyou@reddit
What a dumb question. Try just accountability, there is no other way. You’re overwhelmed by your poor choices to avoid doing what you’re supposed to do. There is no secret hack, you just have to sit down and do it if you want to be successful.
Pro tip: just fucking do your work when you’re supposed to, the more you delay the more it builds up and the more it sucks. Don’t waste time looking for a way out, it’s your only your education that suffers
Skyblacker@reddit
Prioritize. What's due soonest? What makes up a significant part of your grade? By those two metrics, make a task list and work your way down it.
Break up large tasks into small ones. That sociology paper needs research (read a Wikipedia article on your topic for its bibliography. Ethical: borrow those books from the library. Unethical: quote from wikipedia but cite the article writer's source). An outline (Ethical: Use this as an exercise to organize your thoughts. Unethical; ChatGPT). Then write it section by section (Ethical: Actually write it. Unethical: You write it with AI and your professor grades it with AI, freeing up both of you do to do things that actually matter).
TheSagelyOne@reddit
All for help, do whatever you can to set yourself up for success, talk to your teachers, and get the quickest stuff done first.
ElVille55@reddit
Do the easiest thing first to get it out of the way, starting is always the hardest part.
Character_Cress_4991@reddit
Not go on Reddit
Honky_Town@reddit
Prio important things and deliver shit where i can deliver shit.
Sometimes the 5 Minute PPTX is better than 5 hours. Oh you spoke so freely and acted so natural...
More-Hovercraft-1669@reddit
cheat
Outside_Knowledge_24@reddit
First: ask for help. Whether that’s from the instructor, a TA, your friends, your job, anyone who’s in a position to help you get more done. That might mean you work one fewer day that week (if you can afford it and your job is chill), or a friend helps you with some other non-school responsibility that week, or that your TA gives you and extension. Try doing anything you can to create more capacity for yourself.
Second: not all of the work needs to be perfect. If you’re at risk of completely missing assignments a 70% is much much better than a 0%
Third: if that’s still not enough, be thoughtful about what assignments require the most effort for the least impact on your grades— do those last/consider skipping them
Fourth: get off Reddit/your phone and get to work.