procrastinating causing panic

[quenham]

first post, just a bit of a vent

im in year 11, exams and assignments are coming up and i cant stop procrastinating and putting things off to the night before/morning that something is due and stressing myself to the core (im putting off my modern history and economics to write this now). my eating and sleeping cycles are completely whack and i feel like the husk of my normal self because i cant focus on anything, but at the same time i lack all motivation to try and improve myself or my habits. i feel trapped in this downward spiral of ignoring my problems and i can tell theyre coming to bite me soon, i just couldnt care less. im so scared to seek professional help because that means i have to admit somethings wrong and i would have to miss class to book appointments with professionals because of outer-school commitments, which stresses me more than just doing nothing.

the long story short, im sick of putting myself through very clearly avoidable stress, but i dont know how to stop myself from doing it. im so tired of everything, literally and figuratively, and i feel like im rushing toward my brink pretty damn fast.

if nothing else, thank you for a place like this where people can share their ideas and feelings.

-quentin

[blueskye]

Welcome to blueVoices 🙂

Yr 11 is one of the most stressful high school years. I experienced what you're going through back then (about 3.5 years ago). So here's what I have to say to you/what I wish I knew then:

It's easy to "burn out" in year 11, with all the exams and essays. From what you've said, you're unhappy with your procrastination, stress & eating and sleeping habits. To do your best in school, you need to be the best state of mind.

I recommend you to reduce your outer-school commitments a bit. Your mental health is a lot more important. It's easy to overload yourself and it's harder to juggle everything during busy yr 11.

You don't have to go to professional help every day. However, I recommend going to a professional consultation at least TWICE to see what's best for you to do. I went to the school's counselor once and it wasn't useful to me, so I gave up seeking help elsewhere. If I could go back in time, I would have absolutely sought more professional help - GP or psychologist. Your school counselor could be more useful than mine and it's very convenient seeing them.

Keep us updated!!

I hope things work out for you xx

[LavenderTea]

Hey quentin,

Thanks for posting. Year 11 can be insanely stressful so it's understandable that things are out of whack.

There are a few things that I wanted to point out. You say that your sleeping and eating cycles are all over the place - it's important to be able to manage these, most importantly, the sleeping part. When you're not sleeping properly, this can change your appetite, motivation levels, mood, and a whole bunch of other things, so it's important that you prioritise sleep. I'm assuming that since your in Year 11, you're roughly 16-18 years of age. For teens your age, the ideal amount of time you should be sleeping each night is 8-10 hours (with a little bit of leeway). Getting on top of this might help with your eating cycles to begin with.

You also say that you don't want to seek professional help because it means that you have to admit that something is wrong. It might be useful for you to try thinking about it in a different way, for example, think about it as there being something not quite "right", or rather that by seeing someone who can help you professionally, you are growing, learning about yourself. Seeking professional help isn't a bad thing, and we need to help smash the stigma. If you're struggling a little bit now, its important to address it sooner rather than later, because generally you can learn ways to manage it.

Hope this helps,

LT.