School can be a huge stressor for me. I struggle with remembering all of my assignments, and I have to rely on my planner to remember all of my assignments. I mean, as soon as you’re done with one, another one pops up right after. For example, my biology professor assigns readings from the textbook sometimes back to back. It’s stressful, leaving me in a constant state of anxiety, not knowing whether I have an assignment due or not. Normally, I’m stressed out enough, but recently I had a seven-week math class start. That definitely threw me off. I was so focused on my math class and those assignments that new assignments given by my other professors were quickly forgotten. I have a routine, so when it’s thrown off, who knows what could happen? In the morning I have a routine to get ready for the day, if I wake up ten minutes late, everything is out of order and I’ll definitely end up forgetting something. Sometimes I remember specific assignments for a class, but then they quickly take first priority and I forget about any other assignment I had for that class.
One possible reason I have such troubles with memory could be because I have trouble keeping track of time and visualizing it. When it’s Tuesday and a new assignment is due Thursday, my brain forgets that I have only about a day to complete it. I have to put effort into remembering that I need to do it; otherwise, I’ll either procrastinate or completely forget about it. In my head, I have plenty of time to do it. Until I remember it last minute and have to rush through it. That doesn’t happen often, but the addition of that math class to my schedule will definitely take some time to adapt to and add to my regular routine. One thing I will say, is having a planner has definitely been a positive addition to my life. I don’t think I would have made it past my first semester without failing if I didn’t have one. I used to resort to leaving post-it notes on the back of my phone to remind me to do things. Before that? Writing things on my hand in sharpie. Forgetfulness has been a lifelong struggle, and I think it’ll continue to be just that until I’m gone. Until then, I’ll need to find out ways to remember my responsibilities and adapt to changes more quickly.
