There is no secret, you just do the next thing you need to do. Getting started is the hardest part. The more things you get done the more you realize that you feel way less stressed out after you check things off your list. Make a list, get the most urgent things or the easiest things done first. Do things that can't be done again first. Doing something that you won't have to do again means you have one source of stress eliminated for good. Save gaming and watching stuff until the end of the day. Only take a day off if you've accomplished certain goals. Time spent being depressed is worthless time. You'll never look back at it with any fondness or value. Keep doing stuff while you are depressed. Do the hard stuff while you are depressed. The time is mentally/spiritually valueless so grind out unpleasant tasks, you aren't going to feel better or worse during these unpleasant times but when you come out of them you won't have even more and worse problems to deal with. Stop making excuses. Go to class every day. It's the easiest way to raise your grade, whatever bullshit excuse you make to not go is just a bullshit excuse. Better sleep and diet might be good for you but they aren't going to make you more productive. An iron will doesn't give a shit about weather it's well rested or fed, it just gets the next thing it must get done.
I always think about starting last. I put a goal in my calendar and work back from there. For example, If I have a paper due on the 20th I write that down first. Then schedule X hours on the 19th for polishing. X hours on each of the the 18th and 17th for writing. X hours for each of the previous X days for research. Then I know when to start. Writing it down is essential for me. When something is written down for a particular day, it simply has to be done. Even if I get no productive research accomplished on the first day at least I have sat down at my desk and started thinking about what I need to find out. I also try to write a "Table of Contents" as soon as possible. Break the large piece into small steps. Once you see small steps getting done the visible progress motivates me towards the finish line. Don't run a marathon all at once, run one mile after another. In school you have the benefit of having a knowable amount of deadlines that are established at the beginning of each term. That will give you a good basis to develop further in "real life" when things get more complicated with shifting deadlines/priorities. If you fail to plan; you plan to fail.
This is something I tried this year with the papers and essays I had to write: make headings or comments as to what should be there. Worked quite well: even as I was stressing out about them, I was able to make good progress every time. Thanks for sharing, either way.I also try to write a "Table of Contents" as soon as possible. Break the large piece into small steps.
One of the features of org-mode that keeps me coming back to it is how nice it makes working with documents that have been pre-planned as a tree of headings/subheadings. Is it worth learning emacs for? Probably not, but lots of the basic features of org-mode have found there way into plug-ins for other editors.
You're right. This is what I've been doing all along. Making excuses for not working on what needs to be done, let alone something I'd enjoy doing. Thank you for pointing it out. At some point, fear itself becomes more painful than the pain of doing the work.Stop making excuses. Go to class every day. It's the easiest way to raise your grade, whatever bullshit excuse you make to not go is just a bullshit excuse.