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Getting started with a daunting task and 'cutting corners' to save time and energy

BeaE

Any advice on either getting started with a daunting task or 'cutting corners' to save time and energy would be great please

Some background:

I'm struggling a bit with getting through my uni work at the moment. I'm doing an apprenticeship, so work full time during the week, and do about 15-20 hours of uni work in my free time. 

This is not sustainable and I still can't seem to get everything done.

Question 1:

How can I reduce the amount of work I'm doing?

I seem to spend significantly longer on assignments than my peers. I don't think I'm a perfectionist, but I do try to work to a high standard. I don't understand how they can get things done so quickly.

At work I'm always told how quickly I work, so my general speed/productivity rate isn't the issue.

I already have a spreadsheet to distribute work on assignments evenly across the weeks between receiving the brief and the submission deadline. I keep falling behind the planned schedule, though.

I can't leave things to the last minute because it makes me anxious and I can't get the thing I'm avoiding out of my mind. Organising my time like this is also important as I wouldn't stay up late working to meet a deadline, unlike my peers, because I won't go outside my routine like that.

I can't see any corners that I can cut. I don't really like using AI, but I might have to look into the options which are acceptable to use in academic contexts? 

I'm studying engineering, so I need to fully understand what I'm writing about, and not just trust what AI spits out. A lot of the work is drawings and calculations, which AI can't really help with.

Question 2:

How can I continue to approach the tasks with courage and enthusiasm?

The work feels daunting, because there is so much to do, and I keep falling behind where I planned to be. I sometimes just want to avoid doing anything because it feels like too much.

Some more thoughts:

I do struggle to focus while at university. But I try really hard to understand things, while my peers mess around, so I don't think I'm at a huge disadvantage in terms of having to catch up on content outside of uni hours. 

I'm trying just to push through and get it done - I only have to make it to May before the end of the academic year. Still, I don't know how long I can keep this up - even if it is only two 12-week sprints each year. I still have 4 years to get through.

Any thoughts on this are appreciated! I need to figure out why everything is taking me so long, and hopefully find a more sustainable approach. 

  • in reply to BeaE

    They should disclose to anyone else that you're autistic, not unless it was something like a medical emergency.

  • in reply to Iain

    Thank you for your reply, a full time night job, part time work and study sounds like an incredible amount to manage!

    Iain said:
    Can you explain how many hours of uni work you realistically need to do

    The recommended study time is about 20-30 hours a week, but everyone has either regarded this as unachievable or completely forgotten about the recommendation. I feel like I'm currently doing the minimum that I can while mostly-ish keeping on-track. It's also the maximum I feel like I can do without going completely insane.

    Iain said:
    For me I used a spreadsheet

    I agree spreadsheets are helpful to find time you didn't know you had! It's tricky trying to balance leaving the house early, getting back late and trying to keep 9 hours of sleep, but there is time in the day. Weekends and annual leave are when I can get most stuff done though.

    Iain said:
    I found that early on in the terms I could get away with a lot less

    Most of the assessment is coursework based currently, so a consistent level of work across the term is making sense at the moment. I will bear this in mind for future years though.

    Iain said:
    External persuits will largely be saved for the holidays

    I'm very much trying to keep the holidays in mind and remember that this is a temporary and worthwhile phase. The thought is somewhat tainted by being very understaffed at work last summer, and having quite a bit of professional development stuff to catch up on, but it's still something to look forward to.

    Iain said:
    The discipline you learn from this approach

    I agree I've definitely had to be disciplined and dedicate most of term time to study, and for me it's encouraged a genuine interest in my subject! Building stuff is very cool. Although I'm starting to feel less enthusiasm as the year goes on. I need to remember that I do actually really like the subject I'm studying and try to enjoy the journey a bit more

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    I'd not even thought about support options from the uni. I've not disclosed my diagnosis, as I wasn't diagnosed when I enrolled, and don't really want the uni to then tell my employer when it's not on my terms. 

    Thinking about it though, disclosing that I'm autistic to the uni does sound like a very logical, and hopefully helpful, thing to do. I will look into how I can do this! 

  • BeaE said:

    I'm struggling a bit with getting through my uni work at the moment. I'm doing an apprenticeship, so work full time during the week, and do about 15-20 hours of uni work in my free time. 

    This is not sustainable and I still can't seem to get everything done.

    Can you explain how many hours of uni work you realistically need to do each week in order to complete the course successfully?

    I found that early on in the terms I could get away with a lot less than later in the same terms as there was always the focus of exams near the end.

    For me I used a spreadsheet to map out my time each day and worked out where I could create time windows - getting up at 6am to spend 2 hours of study (including breakfast) then off to work for 9am, using breaks for quick revision blocks of 15 mins and then at the end of the day a shower to create a break fo routine, a fairly simple dinner then back for study until 9pm them wind down time and an early bed, so I could get 6+ hours of study from a normal working day.

    Weekends (or days off) could be focussed around study but with more relaxing breaks so I could get 12+ hours in of study per day and still be relaxed with some quality time.

    For me it was about making it my life for the duration of the term - look forward to the lengthy holidays from uni to recharge and keep the focus using checklists, spreadsheets and trackers to show how successful you are being so you can remain motivated.

    External persuits will largely be saved for the holidays (still 5 months a year?) so you are not missing out, just getting delayed gratification.

    The discipline you learn from this approach is valuable later on in your career too.

    This was my approach anyway - I had a full time job at night and part time job cleaning cars during the day on top of my studies as I needed the money (long before sudent loans were a thing).

  • What support are you getting from uni they should have established procedures to help autistic people, maybe a support worker to help you prioritise and to help in general with this sort of stuff.