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The Misadventures of an ISTP, Chapter Six

[ISTP] 
2K views 21 replies 15 participants last post by  madhatter 
#1 ·
The Countdown....

It's that time of year again. The time of year where madhatter has a paper due, it's 1 AM, the paper's due 1 PM, and I haven't even started.

I stay up to 3 AM every night, but on a night before a paper is due, I feel like going to bed at midnight.

I used to really screw up my grade in high school, 'cause I couldn't be bothered with the papers...I'm better about finishing them now, but it's still like pulling teeth.

Come on, only three pages.

Why can't they just give me tests like normal people? I have perfect recall...why waste such a beautiful thing? I get an A, with no extra effort on my part.

Share similar memories from high school/college experiences. I might be here all night, procrastinating...
 
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#3 ·
Way things are going, it looks like that's how it's going to be tonight.
 
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#5 ·
Thanks. I'm really drawing a blank on this one. I'm not really surprised to realize that I just don't care.
 
#6 · (Edited)
^^ That's so ISTP :D
Memory from every week of my elementary school; 10 pm:
Mum (an SJ, believe it or not ;)): Did you do your homework?
Me: Mhm.
Mum (checks the books): No, you didn't! You forgot ____ and ____ and ____!
Me: Oh. Oops.

And then, after some of her energetic describing of how much of a confused person I am, I finished it by midnight.
In the later schooling - and still - when I wasn't living at home anymore and I was allowed to go to sleep anytime I wanted, also my homeworks took advantage of this. I feel the most productive in the nights; whether that be because I'm under pressure or because I got used to do everything at the last minute or because I'm really more alive during the night than during the day - it works.
 
#7 ·
I feel the most productive in the nights; whether that be because I'm under pressure or because I got used to do everything at the last minute or because I'm really more alive during the night than during the day - it works.
Triple check! It really does work. I'll churn out a paper the night or the morning before it's due, and it'll be awesome too, coherent, organized, logically argued...I remember one time I finished it in time to have my ISTJ sister read over it real quick. She read it, looked at me strangely, and asked: did you just write this tonight? Yes, I said. She shook her head and said: I hate you. She's a good writer, too, but she needs to outline and plot out her writing, and give herself plenty of time to do it. I never outline, and I can't do it early...the last-minute adrenaline rush is my inspiration.

Actually, for this paper, I went to bed last night with no idea what I was going to write about. Just as I was dozing off to sleep, my main theme came to me...eureka! I thought. eh, I'll do it in the morning. I slept for four hours, and in the past hour and a half, I whipped off two pages. Then I decided to give myself a well-deserved break...a little more procrastination on PersonalityCafe should do quite nicely. :proud:
 
#8 ·
I recall writing my Senior Theme in High School the night before its due. I didn't start writing on it until around midnight ("ok, I'll get this written after Letterman goes off") Keep in mind I had like 2-3 months to get it done if memory serves.

I think that pressure while I dislike it causes a bit of an adrenaline rush when add some creativity. :happy:
 
#9 ·
I have never written a paper until it was either due in a couple of hours or past due. It's the pressure that makes it happen. The idea that I'm supposed to take a MONTH to "plan, organize & outline" a paper is evil.
I would wait until the pressure was absolutely code red, and then sit down in the front of the computer and just let it fly.
I remember turning in one of those papers and having the teacher use it as an example in front of the class later, of a "well thought out argument" -- LMAO!
It's only now that I realize that's just Ti on display. I write on the fly how I think, and it comes out in a web on the paper...but then the logic is there, just not in Te format. And then everybody thinks you spent all kinds of time on it.
 
#11 ·
I have never written a paper until it was either due in a couple of hours or past due. It's the pressure that makes it happen. The idea that I'm supposed to take a MONTH to "plan, organize & outline" a paper is evil.
That's how I do pretty much everything. 11th hour. I can't motivate myself to think about a project until the pressure's on - at which point, I'm a freaking machine.
 
#12 ·
Me too. I don't like this last minute approach but it's what I do.

Although sometimes it didn't work if I needed to research extra information that was not already in my brain and then there was not enough time to read/absorb a lot of new material.
 
#13 ·
got a paper due in 3 hours that i havent even started yet where am i? Reading up on the weeks topic changes in PersCaf instead. Always end up doing things on the last minute or even after it. Cant remember a single time i did any homework more than a day before it was due, ever.
 
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#14 ·
I did this all the time too. For my special project the last year in school, I procrastinated as long as I could, and then I pulled off an all-nighter where I completely backwards-engineered a MOS6502 micro-processor and wrote a fully working emulator (including the "illegal" opcodes) in about 14 hours - and I still had 15 minutes to spare when I handed it in. Great times. :cool:
 
#15 ·
Yup, I have another paper due tomorrow...and no, I haven't started it yet. It's for the same class, too. Why did I have to take a class that was all papers...? :bored:
 
#16 ·
Another issue typically is the expectations of the papers, such trivialities as minimum length. Usually causes me to zip out great skills of verbal diarrhea and phrase stuff unnecessary complex or repeat myself numerous times. For people that can express themselves spot on those kind of expectations are such an unnecessary chore as the depth is as deep as it can get with the least amount of words possible.

I didn't even study for my finals at all but just went in saying 'screw it, if they want to have me fail I will anyway' - especially since we never were to see the results of the exams, but would only be told the marks afterwards.

It's all smooth sailing till the storm drops by :tongue:

EDIT: Sometimes I even willingly take the storm head on, as that's likely to be more worthwhile than putting up with something I really don't care for. It never ceases to amuse me if you just shrug the lectures of others.
 
#18 ·
@Erbse: I don't study for finals either. For example, now. I have a mid-term in an hour and a half. Am I studying? Nope. I'm screwing around on the internet.

@Darner: Awesome...:cool: Just like me. No deadline, no point, no work.
 
#20 ·
I didn't mind writing papers because I'm pretty good writer, but I also have procrastination issues. I'd try to follow my ISTJ dad's suggestion and do a little bit each day rather than all at once at the last minute, but it never worked. I'd start out on top of things but it never lasted. The life of Ps :tongue:
 
#22 ·
I'm actually a pretty good writer, too. But I hate writing papers, (besides the procrastination issues) because school is then invading my "Me" space. I never do homework at home. I'll do it down on campus, in the coffee shop. That's my school space. Writing papers takes more time then your typical homework, and I have to take the time to answer a question in five pages that I could answer in one.

I struggled with this in high school. Then, I just wouldn't do them. It brought my grades down, but I still somehow managed to get A's and B's in the end.

Still, it pissed my dad off...he paid out of pocket for my education, so he had every right. One time I had a D on my progress report, and he gave me one of his "looks" (you know the one, ISTPs! The glare...) and said: [Insert real name], you better make it a B.

And that was all. But there was that implied "Or else..."

Well I made it a B, and waving my report card, I triumphantly boasted: Look, dad, it's a B! My dad glanced at it, didn't say "Good job" or "Well done", but said: So? You had a cake walk A, if you had done your paper.

He couldn't even give me that one... :dry: But he was right. I started doing my papers after that, but there's always that initial resistance and inevitable procrastination.
 
#21 ·
There is no point doing stuff before it's due.
 
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