why do i keep failing assignments

How to Deal with Academic Failure

The prospect of academic failure can be daunting for many students, but it does not have to hold you back.

According to experts, there are different ways to deal with failure and improve academic performance to get back on track for future success.

Here are their insights:

John F. Tholen, PhD

Retired Psychologist | Author, “ Focused Positivity: The Path to Success and Peace of Mind “

Shift the focus of your attention to a more functional thought

Finding a constructive mindset is the key to rebounding from adversity, including failing to fulfill our academic hopes. Although we may initially be too distressed to appreciate any “positive spin,” once we can face the future again, our success will likely depend on finding an optimistic perspective .

Related: What are the Benefits of Positive Thinking?

Success and peace of mind are most likely to come our way when we practice focused positivity .

Although it seems that our emotional reactions and motivation result from the events and circumstances we encounter, they are caused instead by our self-talk — the monologue streams through every waking moment, interpreting our every experience and establishing our perspective.

Our automatic thoughts can work against us:

Which thoughts spontaneously come into our minds is the result of factors outside our control — an interaction between our genetics and experience .

When we have been left cynical about life or excessively self-critical, our spontaneous thoughts are often dysfunctional — causing distress without inspiring constructive action.

And when dysfunctional beliefs are allowed to dominate our attention, they pervade our self-talk and cause emotional distress and self-doubt —even though they are almost always incomplete, unreasonable, or completely wrong.

We will recover best from academic disappointment if we can employ the closest thing we have to a “superpower” — our ability to shift the focus of our attention to a more functional thought, one likely to inspire hope and generate motivation.

This is the focused positivity strategy :

• Becoming mindful of our thoughts – recording and examining the ideas that occupy our minds when we feel discouraged,
• Identifying dysfunctional thoughts – those that cause distress without inspiring constructive action — that have become the focus of our attention,
• Constructing more reasonable, balanced, and functional alternatives that tend to inspire hope and self-assertion, and
• Systematically refocusing our attention away from the dysfunctional thoughts and toward the functional alternatives.

Notwithstanding the “ sticks and stones ” saying, words can hurt us when ominous forecasts or self-disparagements arise spontaneously from within and are left unchallenged.

Changing how we think:

Cognitive therapy (CT) is a psychological treatment approach that is “ evidence-based .”

A review of 325 different research studies involving more than 9000 subjects found CT to be effective in treating depression (adult and adolescent), anxiety disorder, and social phobia (David, D. et al., “Why Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy Is the Gold Standard of Psychotherapy,” Frontiers of Psychiatry , January 2018).

A significant part of the benefit results from a change of thought or perspective whenever psychotherapy helps — whether it’s psychoanalysis , desensitization , or assertiveness training .

CT works because it is the most efficient method of challenging our dysfunctional thoughts, and the most efficient form of CT is the focused positivity strategy.

Functional thoughts that can help following academic failure

When we encounter what seems the demise of our academic hopes, our resilience is likely to benefit from refocusing our attention on functional thoughts such as:

• “Academic success is far from the only path to success and happiness.”
• (e.g., Walt Disney , John Lennon , Albert Einstein , Winston Churchill , Thomas Edison, Pablo Picasso, Richard Branson, etc.)
• “If I look at the “big picture” of my life, this disappointment won’t hold me back.”
• “If I consider this unwanted result as just a learning experience that can help guide my actions moving forward, I’ll be able to persist until I find ‘success.'”
• “Every outcome that allows me to move forward is a ‘success’—no matter how disappointing it may initially be.”
• “There are no failures, only discoveries.”

Karen Southall Watts

Instructor of Humanities and Success Skills, Bellingham Technical College | Author, “ The Solo Workday “

Focus on learning and not on grades

Make the occasional failures part of your mental norms.

This is a tricky one because students tend to get caught up in grades, often because they are in competitive programs or fields. Yet focusing only on how to “ make an A ” can mean a student misses out on key learning objectives that eventually lead to the bad grade they were hoping to avoid.

Pay attention to those course objective statements ; they matter. Ask your instructor to tell you how lessons apply in the real world. Take on the growth mindset discussed by Dr. Carol Dweck, and make learning and the occasional failures part of your mental norms.

Build and use a personal support network

When you do get a bad grade, it’s important to have someone to talk to (in addition to your instructor).

Build a network of family, friends, tutors, and advisers who are all interested in your success and who will encourage you when you’re down. These people can remind you of your long-term goals when things get tough and jog your memory about all the times in the past when you were successful.

Related: How to Build a Personal and Family Support System

Dissect and diagnose what went wrong

Don’t just cry over a bad grade. Create new habits and systems based on what you learned from this particular failure.

Talk to your instructor and tutors to find out exactly where you went wrong . If your instructor hasn’t given you specific feedback, ask for it . Make sure you utilize posted office hours or ask for an appointment, and come prepared with your problem assignment or test and questions on how you might improve.

Reevaluate if things don’t improve

If you continue to have problems in the same course, it might be time to change sections —not every teacher is a perfect match for each student. Perhaps repeated failure in one area is a signal to either get some intense remediation help or change directions in your educational plans.

Academic failure, especially when a student has been working diligently, can also mean an undiagnosed learning issue in play. A simple change like extended test times or recording lectures can make all the difference.

Talk to the accessibilities department on campus to see if you are entitled to learning modifications.

CEO and Lead Therapist, Naya Clinics

Learn from that failure and know how to pick yourself up and try again

Academic failure happens due to several reasons, with the most common ones being fear of failure , fear of success , lack of preparation, laziness, and lack of motivation. In order to overcome this, there are certain mindsets that students can adopt, plus habits that can create to be able to reach success.

Here are some tips to overcome academic failure:

Be compassionate to yourself

It’s only natural to feel bad when you fail at something, but you also have to remember that everyone makes mistakes and that you can always redirect whenever you find yourself on the wrong path.

There’s no point in beating yourself up, but there are lessons to be learned in recognizing why you have failed. You have to process that failure and allow yourself to heal from that experience. When you regain your confidence, you can come back with a fresh approach.

Related: How To Stop Beating Yourself Up

Accept that failure is a part of life

It may sound contradictory, but the only way to avoid failure is to actually embrace it. Once you have fully accepted your academic failure, you will have an easier time dealing with failure in general.

If you keep in mind that failure is an absolute part of the pursuit of success, you will feel less bad about it. The key is learning from that failure and knowing how to pick yourself up and try again.

Train yourself to become resilient

When you adopt a resilience mindset, you will learn from your failures and continue to push yourself towards your goals. It comes from understanding that failure is a part of life, but it shouldn’t stop you from trying again.

Being willing to learn from your mistakes is necessary for becoming resilient. Despite all, you know that you can come up with a solution and move forward with your goals.

Mike Tenney

Head of School, The Tenney School

Students should have a path to recover following failure

Build a recovery plan.

Our overriding recommendation to families is to build a plan for recovery over time. It is better for the student to have a path to recover following failure and graduate with peers.

Young students (Kindergarten/1st grade) may recover from the negative feedback of repeating a grade, but older students who are forced to repeat a grade will develop long-term confidence issues . You are also more likely to see a repeat of the poor habits which caused the academic failure in the first place.

A recovery plan will include summer courses and perhaps additional courses during the school year.

Academic recovery for high school students is more complicated

Graduation requirements vary by state and school, but all will require a certain number of credits to earn a high school diploma.

In the US, our official record starts in 9th grade. This means academic recovery following failure is more complicated for high school students. Not only do students need to understand the educational content for the year, but they will also need to find a way to earn the credits missed.

Because elementary and middle school classes do not go on a student’s final record, recovery from failure in these grades is less complicated.

Consider a change of schools

Schools must have consequences. A change of school may be just what’s needed to put aside bad habits and turn over a new leaf.

In addition, students may not be allowed to pursue a recovery plan versus being required to repeat the grade if they stay at the same school. Requiring a student to repeat a grade is the ultimate consequence.

Amy Launder

Intersubjective Psychotherapist, The Awareness Centre

Accept that there is more to who we are than someone good at school

Academic failure can be tough to deal with as academia is tied into your identity and/or if you grew up hearing how clever you were and how good you were at school, and so on.

One method we can use to deal with academic failure can be to look at our explanatory styles .

Our explanatory style is the way that we explain to ourselves what has happened to us or what is happening to us. There are three dimensions that make up our explanatory style, and our style can differ depending on what we are trying to explain.

It’s important to note that this generally happens without consciously thinking about it, but that once we notice it, we can choose to alter our explanatory style.

The first dimension: Personalisation

• Do we believe that the academic failure was our fault, or
• Do we believe that external factors played a role?

For example:

• Did we not study enough?
• Did the test ask us about something that the teacher didn’t cover?
• Did we not sleep enough the night before?
• Did someone interrupt the exam and distract everyone?

This is looking at whether we place blame internally or externally.

The second dimension: Pervasiveness

This is looking at whether what’s happened is specific to one area of life or whether it pervades our entire world.

For example, do we believe that failing one test will change our entire lives for the worse? Or can we compartmentalize this failure to this one area of our lives (perhaps even to this one test) and recognize that other parts of our lives are unaltered – our family still loves us, our friends still want to hang out with us, and so on.

This is about separating academia from our identity and accepting that there is more to us than someone good at school. We are multi-faceted, and academia is only one part of who we are.

The third and final dimension: Permanence

It looks at how temporary or permanent the problem is.

• Do we believe that the failure will follow us around for the rest of our lives?
• Do we believe that we can overcome it?

Perhaps we can re-take the test, access academic support, or hand in extra credit work, or we don’t need to do any of those things and accept that other tests, exams, and coursework will bolster our overall academic outcome.

Daniel Santos

CEO, Prepory

Remind yourself that no academic failure affects your true worthiness

There are three main ways to think about and deal with academic failure. Failure can mean defeat, it can bring a challenge, or it can expose an opportunity.

Failure as defeat

This is the most common reaction to academic failure: the feeling of being defeated. It can be saddening, maddening, or downright disappointing to fail in an academic setting.

Unlike some other types of life failure, academic failures can be especially public. If you don’t get that salutatorian spot you’ve been eyeing, other people will know it. If you don’t pass the bar exam, people in your life will ask and find out.

If you don’t get into the dream college you’ve been raving about, you’ll need to break the news. That means avoiding the feeling of defeat that your social life reminds you of – subtly or overtly – can be nearly impossible! Confronting the sense of defeat, and being seen publicly as defeated, can hurt .

The best way to overcome this feeling is self-compassion . That is, allow yourself to feel the hurt, acknowledge its validity, and remind yourself that no academic failure affects your true worthiness.

Failure as a challenge

Every year, at least thousands of first-year college students fail to live up to their expectations in the notorious introductory biology, chemistry, and physics classes that serve to “ weed out ” pre-med students.

Sometimes, that failure is a challenge .

Can you work harder and do better? Are you willing and able to put in more energy, attention, and commitment and try again?

Failure as an opportunity

The other side of pre-med students who experience academic failure is the experience of liberation or opportunity. In this example, some students may come to terms with their passions, strengths, and weaknesses.

Maybe your parents want you to be a surgeon, and that influence dictated your decision-making, but your private wish to yourself has been to become a film producer or a diplomat.

Sometimes, academic failure validates that the path you’re on isn’t the path in which you want to invest your life.

In this experience, academic failure can be an opportunity for rethinking your choices, reinventing yourself, and welcoming change.

Iqbal Ahmad

Founder and CEO, Britannia School of Academics

Understand that failures are important experiences

As much as I love to see my students achieve their desired results, it is inevitable that students will fail to do so at times. Below, I will shed some light on what I preach to my students in this situation.

The importance of experience

One must get the context right to make informed and fruitful decisions in life. No one wants to fail, no matter how small or insignificant the task, but the fact of the matter is that we all fail sometimes. Understanding that failures are important experiences is the first step to dealing with failure.

Most of what we learn in our lives is from failures and not success. The ability to learn from our failures is a lifelong skill, and it’s not such a bad thing that we develop this skill as part of our educational journey.

Avoiding negativity

I cannot agree more with Charles Swindoll’s saying that “ Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react. ” Nothing can change the fact that you have already failed to achieve your desired academic results, but your response to this outcome is all within your control.

For instance, rather than panicking and allowing your confidence to be undermined, focus on what went wrong and how you can change that moving forward.

Similarly, it may be worth reviewing the company you keep when you are feeling low about the situation ; are they the type of people who will only consider the negatives in life rather than striving to make the adjustments necessary for improvement?

You need to find a company of individuals who will inspire you to create an effective line of action to come out of the situation.

Not losing hope

Do not forget that there are situations where your grades can be open for consideration. For example, all universities have appeals procedures to request a review of your grades.

Furthermore, your university might have a procedure in place to submit a request for exceptional treatment based on extenuating circumstances, though it is usually required that such a request is submitted before the grades are announced.

Other options might include taking extra credits , resubmitting the work after changes, etc. Therefore, it’s always worth speaking to your course supervisor or the student union to explore your options.

Knowing when to make important decisions

The poorest of the decisions made in our lives occur when we are in a fragile state of mind. If you have failed to achieve your desired academic results, the chances are that you are very sad or disappointed.

You may be tempted to make an irrational decision, like quitting your course or even changing careers. You must not decide in that state of mind, or else you will almost certainly regret it later in your life.

Take some time off and allow yourself time to get over your emotions.

When you feel relatively better and mentally stronger, consult someone you can trust to plan your next actions, such as arranging a resit .

Laura Fragomeni, Ed.M.

Founder and Principal Academic Coach, School Without Suffering

Focus on learning specific set of skills to give your best performance

Suppose you’ve experienced academic failure, be it a low score on an exam or an overall failing grade in a course. In that case, you know the disappointment, anxiety, and even depression that can come along with it. And it’s incredibly hard not to feel that way.

Since we are five or younger, when we enter the school system, we learn that doing well in school makes us good and worthy of praise, and having a bad performance is a problem that we should avoid at all costs.

And with all of the rhetoric about how higher education is more competitive than ever these days and students must excel in school (i.e. get good grades) in order to do well in life, it’s no wonder the experience of academic failure can affect us so heavily.

So what should we do with these very understandable feelings about failing grades, that if not kept in check have the power to derail our academic progress?

As hard as it is, the answer is to do your best to manage your stress about the low grades so you can divert your focus to understand what exactly it is about the task of going to school (which is really thousands of tasks) that is causing the performance issues.

Then, the energy that was once fueling the grades’ anxiety can be funneled into solving those problems.

A real-life example:

No one illustrates the power of “ letting go ” to bring your grades up than a student who’s been working with us at our school for months now, since about the middle of the Fall semester of his Junior year.

When I asked this student during our first meeting what he wanted to get out of working with us, he said, “ I’m not too concerned about grades, more wanting to change mindset because carrying over to everything in life. ”

That answer opened the door for us to teach him the skills he really needed to succeed. As I got to know him, I learned that he cared deeply about how his grades and, by extension, how others perceived him. But, he was open to understanding that his perceptions based on his grades were not real and, therefore, not what actually mattered.

It freed up his mind space to learn:

• so that he could complete missed assignments and turn in all subsequent assignments on time
• so that he truly understood the complex texts he was assigned to read

By the end of the semester, he managed to get his grades up to Bs—not easy to do when you’re starting from failing with only half a semester to go! He’s now beginning the semester ahead in all of his classes, and he’s feeling incredible.

Of course, getting here was not a linear or an anxiety-free process. But, everyone, including the student, saw changes start to happen immediately. The student and his parents were also getting in-depth knowledge about what exactly had been causing the student to fail, which allowed them to trust and let go even more.

And that little bit of room allowed the student to focus less of his energy on stress about grades and more on learning the specific set of skills he needed to give his best performance in school. And as you can imagine, everyone in the house is now feeling much less anxious about grades.

Joy Gandell, MScA, ACC

Parenting & Learning Coach, SETA Coaching & Training

Take what you learned and apply it in the future to make progress

Academic failure sounds so finite. It sounds like all hope is lost. Is it? Who defined this as a failure? Society? Our culture? The school? Our parents?

What if we re-defined this experience as a form of communication? As an opportunity to learn something about ourselves and take what we have learned and apply it in the future to make progress?

Before we can look at this experience with curiosity, we must first process our related emotions.

We do this by identifying the emotions we are feeling:

affront, aggravation, anger, anguish, annoyance, anxiety, apathetic, baffled, bewildered, blame, dejection, denial, depression, despair, despondence, devastation, disappointment, disgust, dismay, doubt, dread, exhaustion, frustration, gravity, grief, grimness, hopelessness, horror, humiliation, incredulousness, indifference, indignation, irritability, melancholy, misery, mortification, perplexity, pessimism, rage, rancor, remorse, resignation, sorrow, surrender, and uncertainty

We can experience one or many of these emotions at once. Understanding what each of these emotions means and identifying the ones that apply to our situation is the first step in moving forward.

Identifying the emotions applicable to our situation will help us understand the message these emotions are sending us. Only then will we determine how to move that emotion through our minds and bodies; we experience emotions in our minds and our bodies.

Processing emotions gives us the ability to use our thinking brains to make the best decision for moving forward. We want to understand what message this setback (as opposed to failure) is sending us.

We have to reflect on the questions we must ask ourselves to understand them. Potential questions you can ask yourself are:

• What were my life’s conditions that could have contributed to this setback?
• Do I struggle with executive function issues without the proper support in place?
• Do I feel safe and secure in this academic environment?
• What self-regulation issues might I identify?
• Do I even enjoy/find the subject matter stimulating?
• How could I have identified a benefit I could have received from the academic experience to help me stay engaged with the content?
• What other questions can you ask yourself about your academic experience that could have led to this result?

Identifying the conditions that led to the setback is meaningful learning so that you can take the appropriate action from now on. Life is a journey and a process of continuous learning and growth.

Throughout our lives, there will always be setbacks . How we cope and learn from them will determine our resilience. We all have the capability of being resilient; we have to strengthen it like a muscle.

Nekia Wright, M.Ed.

Special Education Teacher | Owner and Founder, Ujamaa

We don’t need to measure ourselves against other’s achievements

I’ve been a special education teacher for more than 13 years and have had to coach many students through feelings of academic failure, specifically regarding standardized tests that all students take even if they are performing well below grade level.

My students receive extra accommodations like having a teacher read aloud the test items, spare time, etc. Even with the most accommodations, many of these tests are not appropriate.

It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch a child who you’ve seen work hard throughout a year. They’ve increased by two grade levels in their reading skills but are still reading at a second-grade level to take a test written for sixth graders.

Environmental factors make it difficult for many students to get to school on time or even at all.

Every three years, any child with an IEP receives a full triennial assessment with a psychologist and education specialist. I get plenty of valuable information through my formal and informal assessments of the students throughout the year, so the standardized tests are unnecessary from a data collection point of view.

Yet so often, I would be sitting in a room with a child who was working incredibly hard for an entire year and surpassed the individualized education goals we had set as a team. I watch them suffer through an assessment that completely shifts how they think about themselves and their academic achievements.

At the beginning of the year, I share with my students the truth about the public education system, that:

• It is a work in progress,
• Many teachers are trying their best to figure out how to transform schools into a place where every child can thrive,
• Students have a role in this, too.

We need engagement and feedback to hear their ideas and constructive criticism on what’s not working. I could not let these tests shatter my student’s self-esteem.

The people who made the rules and laws did not consider the needs of children like them. So, I explained to them about the standardized test ahead of time.

• I told them that it’s something that everyone has to take, even though I didn’t think it was fair.
• I shared some basic test-taking strategies, and we practiced some breathing exercises.
• I explained that there’s probably going to be many things on that test that they don’t understand.
• I tell them to try their best but not focus too hard on the things that don’t make sense.
• Just keep moving through the test.
• Before we would take any standardized test, I would have them review all the hard work they’ve done.

As a special education teacher , we keep track of each academic & socio-emotional growth of the individual students on our caseloads. Discuss how hard it is to grow two grade levels in reading in one year.

We explore how we need others to inspire and motivate us, but we don’t need to measure ourselves against other people’s achievements.

I reinforce how important it is to set your own goals, plan how to achieve that goal, and put in the work to make it happen. We talk about how to measure our progress and celebrate successes.

Sometimes, I share my skiing story: I’d been going through a difficult time, and a friend offered me a free ski trip. I almost said no because I felt so unsuccessful at life that I didn’t think I could take another failure. Then, I decided that I would make the best of it.

So I went with them. On the first slope, my friends all took off, and I just toppled down the hill over and over. I told my friends to keep going, that I would figure it out. Eventually, I was able to get my balance and would just completely relax each time I started to take a plunge.

After a couple of falls, people behind me started applauding. At first, I thought they were making fun of me until “ That’s the most graceful and beautiful fall I’ve ever seen! ” a stranger yells.

Just remember that it’s all a part of the journey.

Dr. Stacy Haynes, Ed.D., LPC, ACS

Licensed Therapist | Owner, Little Hands Family Services

A great method to deal with academic failure is called Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS)

This was created by Dr. Ross Greene and described in his best-selling books Lost at School and The Explosive Child, highlighted in the documentary The Kids We Lose .

With academic failure, we would have a Plan B problem-solving conversation with the student to figure out what is making it difficult for the student to complete the work.

For example, if they are failing math, we might ask, “ I noticed you have difficulty completing your math homework. “

• Empathy Step . We listen to the kid’s concerns and learn about their concerns.
• Adult Concern Step . We would state our concerns about the student failing math
• Invitation Step . We would invite the student to problem solve a solution together.

This approach is being trained in schools around the world and is evidence-based to be effective in helping students improve academically.

As a clinician, trainer for CPS , and a mom who uses it at home, this method is a great preventive measure for students with academic difficulties.

CEO, Champion Leadership Group LLC

Identify the things you can and cannot manage

The academic environment may be stressful, whether you’re entering college for the first time or in your last semesters, attempting to make it through to graduation without falling behind.

Financial independence, establishing new acquaintances, and figuring out your life’s path may all be intimidating new challenges to face. Numerous students find it challenging to adapt to living away from home atop the pressure to succeed academically.

However, you must not allow academic failure to harm your relationships, lower your self-esteem, or lead you to develop more significant mental health issues such as despair and anxiety.

Here are ways how to deal with academic failure:

Make an effort to be competent, even in minor things

Identifying the things you can and cannot manage might be essential amid apparently overwhelming challenges. You may not be able to influence a professor’s mark on your essay, but you can control how you respond to the comments you do get about your work.

Moreover, students living on their own for the first time may find it challenging to learn essential life skills such as cooking, cleaning, and maintaining a vehicle. It is also true that kids spend less time cultivating their social skills due to growing up in an era of endless distractions.

Your self-esteem and confidence will rise if you can take care of yourself, your loved ones, and your assets with respect. It’s a good idea to spend some time learning these primary talents from your family or acquaintances.

It’s much easier to acquire these foundational life skills now when so many helpful tools are accessible on the internet.

Take some time out to reflect

While it may be tempting to rush through college (mainly if it means saving money), stressed-out college students occasionally need to take a step back and take a deep breath. Rather than a full-time schedule, consider taking one or two courses less often.

An excellent way to save money while still earning course credit is to speak with guidance counselors about possible internship possibilities. There is no guilt in taking a little longer for those who want to broaden their views and broaden their experiences by delaying their graduation.

Deborah Ann Spence, CRS, e-PRO, GREEN, RENE

Broker, Fierce Realty Corp

I said, “this can’t be my life,” and just like that, it wasn’t

I was a terrible student in elementary, middle, high school, and college. So yes, how did I get to college as a bad student?

The beginning

Well, I received a scholarship that designated inner-cities kids with some potential to attend Hofstra University. It was an experiment to see if you could bring poor kids with poor grades and transform them into good students if they had mentorship, coaching, and a new environment.

But it didn’t work. Not in the beginning initially for me. Not for another twenty-five years.

I believe my struggle with school started very early in elementary school for two reasons. One reason was the material used (1970’s) to teach. As a poor African American child, I could not connect. I didn’t see myself in the material, and it wasn’t apparent.

The second reason was the weird things going on in my household. I was dealing with severe trauma at home, poverty, and hunger.

At school, I’m thinking about how to survive, when I will eat again, and not about multiplication or any of those early skillsets needed to create a solid educational foundation. The bottom line is life was brutal, and I am amazed that I survived it all.

In college, my life became worse. I suffered the early signs of a debilitating mental illness, and getting through school was extremely difficult. I was thrown out of college at one point because of my undiagnosed symptoms.

But eventually, I graduated with the lowest GPA of 2.0 that anyone can have to graduate. After college, I struggled for the next 25 years with menial jobs, failed attempts at self-employment, and many psych ward hospital stays.

The mental shift happened during one of my hospital stays.

I said, “ this can’t be my life, ” and just like that, it wasn’t.

I slowly pulled myself out of despair and into hope and healing. I got better with medication. I started a career in Real Estate. I knocked it out of the park my first year in Real Estate by listing over 63 homes.

Three years later, I studied and took the Broker Exam and became a Real Estate Broker/Owner. Since then, I’ve taken several classes, certifications and recently passed the four-hour exam to become a Project Manager.

I write articles and books. I teach and train other Real Estate Agents. I created an app for Real Estate Training. I am a local elected official. I serve on several not-for-profit boards. I am currently studying for the Uniform CPA exam. I am on fire!

I did it all by making a mental shift.

I told myself I could do it . And, that, along with a lot of grit, is how to overcome failure.

Claire Westbrook

Founder, LSAT Prep Hero

Academic failure is an obstacle you can learn from and grow from

It’s important to remember that failure is not permanent, and it’s not indicative of your overall worth as a person. It’s simply an event, an obstacle you can learn from and grow from.

Here are the prompts I provide to students on how to deal with academic failure:

Acknowledge your feelings and give yourself time to grieve

The initial reaction to any failure is usually shock, disbelief, and sadness. It’s natural to feel all of these things, so give yourself some time to process them. Don’t try to bottle them up or ignore them – that will only make things worse in the long run.

Talk to your professor or advisor

They may be able to help you understand why you failed, and they may be able to suggest ways that you can improve your grades in the future.

Make the necessary changes to get better:

• Do you have trouble staying focused?
• Are some days worse than others for studying?
• Be honest with yourself.
• Some people prefer pin-drop silence, while others do better in a busy coffee shop.
• Test yourself to see how well you retain information after studying in different environments.
• I’ve seen students struggle with everything from balancing multiple jobs, to having family and relationship issues, to having substance abuse issues.

Remember that you have a limited capacity and need to prioritize what’s most important to you at this time in your life.

Jessica Bonner, MA, MS, CCC-SLP

Founder and Owner, For Other Prizes Consulting

Take the time to acknowledge feelings

I recall feeling both angry and frustrated when I realized the seriousness of my situation, especially given that none of the other students in my cohort were dealing with the same problem.

Though acknowledging feelings may seem counterproductive, taking the time to do so allows students to simply be human in a time of great pressure.

Too often, students encounter roadblocks during their academic journey that may lead them to believe that their current academic program is not for them. The reality may just be that the present load may be too much, especially if students are also handling nonacademic issues (e.g., home events).

Taking the time to acknowledge feelings such as disappointment may help students approach the issue with more reason since contributing factors can become more evident during the acknowledgment period.

Consider available options

Since I knew I did not want my future to be ruled by my failure in graduate school, I considered the options available at the time.

Flunking out was an option I refused to believe.

Upon talking with program advisors, I learned that I could withdraw from my two weakest courses and continue with the remaining two courses and my clinicals. I would retake the dropped courses the following fall semester. While I wasn’t a fan of this option, it worked best for me at that time.

Whether students face failure in the future or have already failed, they should prioritize looking into options that can prove beneficial in the future.

For instance, students on the verge of failing can chat with their instructors regarding weaknesses and how to best bring up the grades. If bringing up the grades by the end of the term seems unlikely, then withdrawing from and retaking courses also serves as an option.

For students who have failed, I recommend meeting with instructors and advisors to learn the next best steps. Often, one of the steps includes retaking failed courses. Instructors and/or advisors may be able to determine when retaking the courses would be most helpful, assuming specific courses are offered more than one semester per school year.

Also, advisors are specifically known for helping students create a manageable academic schedule each semester, so students should take advantage.

Visit the Counselor

I personally visited one of the university counselors at least once a month while in graduate school. As I faced home and academic issues, speaking with a professional helped me tremendously . Honestly, if I had not spoken to the counselor, I most likely would never have finished my program.

If students find themselves feeling hopeless due to academic failure, talking it out with a professional can allow students to vent in an environment where they do not feel judged.

After taking advantage of these services for some time, students may feel more empowered when handling failure and approaching their academics in such a way that they are much more likely to come out winning.

Rohit Bimbra

Founder and CEO, Home Health Care Shoppe

See it as an opportunity to pivot

One of the ways someone can recover from academic failure is to understand that the world offers so much more opportunities for developing a fulfilling career, even if you don’t have a degree to flash around.

If you take a look at some of the most successful entrepreneurs, you’ll find that many of them have dropped out of school at some point. I’m not saying that they were successful because they dropped out or that you should drop out to be successful. It’s how they bounced back that’s important.

They didn’t see their academic failure as the end of it all.

Instead, they saw it as an opportunity to pivot. So, if you’re dealing with academic failure right now, don’t despair. Sometimes, we need to fail at something that’s not meant for us so that we can find what is.

Stephen Light

Co-Owner and Chief Marketing Officer, Nolah Mattress

Practice healthy coping mechanisms that make you feel calm

As with any failure, stress, or difficult times, practice healthy coping mechanisms that make you feel happy , worthy, and calm.

This looks different for everybody, but things like sports, yoga, writing, painting, meditation, biking, and more can help you step outside the moment and process failure and the feelings that come with it in a healthy way.

Academic failure can put a lot of stress on your mind and body, and a healthy outlet can help relieve the pressure and remind you that you’re worth more than this one instance of failure.

Isaac Robertson

Co-Founder, Total Shape

Change your mindset about failures

We are the ones who define our failures, so the decision of labeling something as a ‘ failure ‘ lies in our own hands. Do you want to learn new things from your failures or just get stuck in the corner with a heart full of regrets about your failure?

Obviously, we all want to get up, but the dejection we feel during our failures makes us think that the whole world has crashed down.

But don’t believe in your temporary feelings and thoughts, however painful it can be.

Believe in yourself that your failures don’t define you, and a single failure doesn’t mean successive failures. Develop a growth mindset where you can see doors to opportunities even if one of the doors gets closed.

Having a fixed mindset makes you think that there is only one door available in this whole world. So, define failures as ‘ lessons for next success ‘ in your mind for dealing with temporary setbacks.

Craig Miller

Co-Founder, Academia Labs LLC

It is important to take a step back and assess your options

Academic failure doesn’t happen in one day; it is a culmination of previous activities and decisions that you have made in the past. That is why it is essential to take a step back and re-assess what your next steps should be.

It is possible that you will continue with your current path and achieve your goal, but another option will be to travel another track that you may be better at.

Academic failure may be the last straw you are waiting for or the sign you have been waiting to take on a different route. Hence, identify your losses and possible gains and choose the best option for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What causes students to fall behind academically.

It’s a complex issue with no single answer, but let’s dive in and take a closer look!

For starters, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: distractions . We live in a world that’s filled with distractions, from social media to video games, and it can be tough for students to stay focused on their studies. When students get caught up in the cycle of procrastination and distraction, it’s easy for them to fall behind.

Next up, we have a lack of motivation . When students don’t see the relevance of what they’re learning, it can be tough for them to stay engaged and motivated. This can be particularly true for students who are struggling with their mental health or who are dealing with other personal challenges.

Another factor that can contribute to students falling behind is a lack of support from their teachers and parents . When students don’t have someone in their corner who believes in them and is willing to help them succeed, it can be tough for them to stay motivated and on track.

Finally, let’s talk about differences in learning styles . Some students are visual learners, some are auditory learners, and some are kinesthetic learners. When students don’t have access to teaching that aligns with their learning style, it can be tough for them to fully grasp the material and stay on track.

How do I get my academic mindset back?

Here are a few tips that might get you back into the academic zone:

• Get organized : Make a to-do list, prioritize your tasks, and create a schedule for yourself. This will help you stay on track and feel more in control.

• Take breaks : It’s important to step away from your work every now and then. Go for a walk, read a book, or do something you enjoy. This will help you recharge and return to your work with a fresh perspective.

• Surround yourself with inspiration : Surround yourself with things that motivate you. This could be a photo of your graduation, a quote that resonates with you, or a vision board of your goals.

• Connect with others : Reach out to friends, classmates, or mentors who have been through a similar experience. Talking to others who understand can be incredibly helpful. Practice self-care: Make sure to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. Exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep.

Remember, getting your academic mindset back is a process, and it may take time. But with a little effort and patience, you’ll be back to your old self in no time!

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How to Cope with Academic Failure

Last Updated: November 30, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Trudi Griffin, LPC, MS . Trudi Griffin is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Wisconsin specializing in Addictions and Mental Health. She provides therapy to people who struggle with addictions, mental health, and trauma in community health settings and private practice. She received her MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Marquette University in 2011. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 87,149 times.

Achieving academic goals is vitally important for achieving professional goals later on in life. Nonetheless, overcoming what is perceived as "failure" in academic settings can seem like a daunting task. However, if you learn from past mistakes and develop a plan of action for the future, you can bounce back from almost any academic setback.

Practicing Self-Compassion

• Instead of thinking of it as a failure, think of it as a problem. Problems are there to be solved; a problem can be fixed. Most importantly, everyone has problems, even the most successful people.
• Consider whether you need to adjust your expectations. Ask yourself what your priorities are and how academics fit into them. If you find academics aren't your strength, consider adjusting your goals to fit your strengths.

• If you think you might have adopted a failure identity, then the first step is to practice self-compassion. Stop thinking of yourself as a failure, and think about yourself as a person with a fixable problem. The existence of the problem itself is neutral with respect to success and failure. The problem is an opportunity, because how a person responds to a problem is what creates success or failure.
• Remember that you can be intelligent in more than one area. Many people have intelligence in some areas and deficiencies in others. Think about the areas of intelligence where you could be successful.

Identifying the Trouble Spots

• This kind of analysis can be difficult. Because people in close personal relationships mean a great deal, it is difficult to admit that those relationships may cause problems in other areas. But just because you have relationship problems doesn't mean that the relation is a bad person. The point is to separate relationship problems from academic problems so that they can both be solved.

• There are only 24 hours in a day. A person sleeps for eight hours and a full-time student goes to school for another eight. How you spend the remainder can determine the outcome of an academic problem.
• Be sure to plan some time in each day for self-care to help keep yourself mentally and emotionally balanced.

• Everyone won't remember everything off the top of their head. That doesn't necessarily mean that they are disorganized. But if you can't remember due dates, guidelines, and assignments, and you can't find the notes or handouts that describe them, you probably have organizational issues. Especially if you understand the subject matter, but have trouble keeping up with assignments, dates, and procedures, disorganization is probably at the root of your trouble.

• Everybody gets nervous from time to time. The question is whether you are getting so nervous that it makes you unable to do things that you otherwise could. If test-taking causes you such extreme anxiety that it impacts your performance and grades, talk to your teacher to see if other accommodations can be made for you.

• Try some problems in a textbook, ask your teacher for a sample test, or go online to find some problems that you aren't already familiar with.
• Although it seems counter-intuitive, this is the easiest academic problem to fix, because it doesn't require a major change in behavior to fix. Almost anyone can understand almost anything if they are given the proper explanation and sufficient practice.

Bouncing Back

• If they slowly declined, this probably indicates an ongoing but worsening external problem or a lack of proficiency in a foundational skill set. Foundational skills often start out as small portions of your grades but increase in importance as time goes on.
• If your grades suddenly plummeted, then that can be indicative of the sudden presence of a very troublesome external factor. If your family was evicted or homeless, a parent went to prison, or you moved to a new school or a new class, these would all qualify. Alternatively, the subject matter in that class may have abruptly changed, and you might struggle with the new material.

• Enlist someone to help you stay accountable to your plan of action. Talk to a friend, family member, teacher, or counselor about helping you stay on track.

• Study at a library, a coffee shop, or even at a friend’s house. Even if you have to face those same problems when you get home, find a space where you can learn in peace. [7] X Research source

• Set phone and email alerts so you don’t forget about them, and set them at the times you need to start working on them.

• There is a wealth of additional help available online. Youtube.com and http://www.khanacademy.org all offer free services to help students on nearly any type of subject matter.

• ↑ https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/three_mindset_shifts_that_can_help_students_succeed
• ↑ https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/coping-with-life/problems-at-school/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/test-anxiety.html
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/testing-tips.html
• ↑ https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/02/science/the-high-school-challenge.html
• ↑ https://usq.pressbooks.pub/academicsuccess/chapter/study-space/
• ↑ http://psychcentral.com/lib/top-10-most-effective-study-habits/
• ↑ https://www.cornerstone.edu/blog-post/12-methods-to-significantly-improve-your-studying/

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30 Tips to Stop Procrastinating and Find Motivation to Do Homework

Updated on June 6, 2023 By Daniel Wong 44 Comments

To stop procrastinating on homework, you need to find motivation to do the homework in the first place.

But first, you have to overcome feeling too overwhelmed to even start.

You know what it feels like when everything hits you at once, right?

You have three tests to study for and a math assignment due tomorrow.

And you’ve got a history report due the day after.

You tell yourself to get down to work. But with so much to do, you feel overwhelmed.

So you procrastinate.

You check your social media feed, watch a few videos, and get yourself a drink. But you know that none of this is bringing you closer to getting the work done.

Does this sound familiar?

Don’t worry – you are not alone. Procrastination is a problem that everyone faces, but there are ways around it.

By following the tips in this article, you’ll be able to overcome procrastination and consistently find the motivation to do the homework .

So read on to discover 30 powerful tips to help you stop procrastinating on your homework.

Enter your email below to download a PDF summary of this article. The PDF contains all the tips found here, plus  3 exclusive bonus tips that you’ll only find in the PDF.

How to stop procrastinating and motivate yourself to do your homework.

Procrastination when it comes to homework isn’t just an issue of laziness or a lack of motivation .

The following tips will help you to first address the root cause of your procrastination and then implement strategies to keep your motivation levels high.

1. Take a quiz to see how much you procrastinate.

The first step to changing your behavior is to become more self-aware.

How often do you procrastinate? What kinds of tasks do you tend to put off? Is procrastination a small or big problem for you?

To answer these questions, I suggest that you take this online quiz designed by Psychology Today .

2. Figure out why you’re procrastinating.

Procrastination is a complex issue that involves multiple factors.

Stop thinking of excuses for not doing your homework , and figure out what’s keeping you from getting started.

Are you procrastinating because:

• You’re not sure you’ll be able to solve all the homework problems?
• You’re subconsciously rebelling against your teachers or parents?
• You’re not interested in the subject or topic?
• You’re physically or mentally tired?
• You’re waiting for the perfect time to start?
• You don’t know where to start?

Once you’ve identified exactly why you’re procrastinating, you can pick out the tips in this article that will get to the root of the problem.

3. Write down what you’re procrastinating on.

Students tend to procrastinate when they’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

But you might be surprised to discover that simply by writing down the specific tasks you’re putting off, the situation will feel more manageable.

It’s a quick solution, and it makes a real difference.

Give it a try and you’ll be less likely to procrastinate.

4. Put your homework on your desk.

Here’s an even simpler idea.

Many times, the hardest part of getting your homework done is getting started.

It doesn’t require a lot of willpower to take out your homework and put it on your desk.

But once it’s sitting there in front of you, you’ll be much closer to actually getting down to work.

5. Break down the task into smaller steps.

This one trick will make any task seem more manageable.

For example, if you have a history report to write, you could break it down into the following steps:

• Read the history textbook
• Do online research
• Organize the information
• Create an outline
• Write the introduction
• Write the body paragraphs
• Write the conclusion
• Edit and proofread the report

Focus on just one step at a time. This way, you won’t need to motivate yourself to write the whole report at one go.

This is an important technique to use if you want to study smart and get more done .

6. Create a detailed timeline with specific deadlines.

As a follow-up to Point #5, you can further combat procrastination by creating a timeline with specific deadlines.

Using the same example above, I’ve added deadlines to each of the steps:

• Jan 30 th : Read the history textbook
• Feb 2 nd : Do online research
• Feb 3 rd : Organize the information
• Feb 5 th : Create an outline
• Feb 8 th : Write the introduction
• Feb 12 th : Write the body paragraphs
• Feb 14 th : Write the conclusion
• Feb 16 th : Edit and proofread the report

Assigning specific dates creates a sense of urgency, which makes it more likely that you’ll keep to the deadlines.

7. Spend time with people who are focused and hardworking.

Jim Rohn famously said that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

If you hang out with people who are motivated and hardworking, you’ll become more like them.

Likewise, if you hang out with people who continually procrastinate, you’ll become more like them too.

Motivation to do homework naturally increases when you surround yourself with the right people.

So choose your friends wisely. Find homework buddies who will influence you positively to become a straight-A student who leads a balanced life.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun! It just means that you and your friends know when it’s time to get down to work and when it’s time to enjoy yourselves.

8. Tell at least two or three people about the tasks you plan to complete.

When you tell others about the tasks you intend to finish, you’ll be more likely to follow through with your plans.

This is called “accountability,” and it kicks in because you want to be seen as someone who keeps your word.

So if you know about this principle, why not use it to your advantage?

You could even ask a friend to be your accountability buddy. At the beginning of each day, you could text each other what you plan to work on that day.

Then at the end of the day, you could check in with each other to see if things went according to plan.

9. Change your environment .

Maybe it’s your environment that’s making you feel sluggish.

When you’re doing your homework, is your super-comfortable bed just two steps away? Or is your distracting computer within easy reach?

If your environment is part of your procrastination problem, then change it.

Sometimes all you need is a simple change of scenery. Bring your work to the dining room table and get it done there. Or head to a nearby café to complete your report.

10. Talk to people who have overcome their procrastination problem.

If you have friends who consistently win the battle with procrastination, learn from their experience.

What was the turning point for them? What tips and strategies do they use? What keeps them motivated?

Find all this out, and then apply the information to your own situation.

11. Decide on a reward to give yourself after you complete your task.

“Planned” rewards are a great way to motivate yourself to do your homework.

The reward doesn’t have to be something huge.

For instance, you might decide that after you finish 10 questions of your math homework, you get to watch your favorite TV show.

Or you might decide that after reading one chapter of your history textbook, you get to spend 10 minutes on Facebook.

By giving yourself a reward, you’ll feel more motivated to get through the task at hand.

12. Decide on a consequence you’ll impose on yourself if you don’t meet the deadline.

It’s important that you decide on what the consequence will be before you start working toward your goal.

As an example, you could tell your younger brother that you’ll give him $1 for every deadline you don’t meet (see Point #6).

Or you could decide that you’ll delete one game from your phone for every late homework submission.

Those consequences would probably be painful enough to help you get down to work, right?

13. Visualize success.

Take 30 seconds and imagine how you’ll feel when you finish your work.

What positive emotions will you experience?

Will you feel a sense of satisfaction from getting all your work done?

Will you relish the extra time on your hands when you get your homework done fast and ahead of time?

This simple exercise of visualizing success may be enough to inspire you to start doing your assignment.

14. Visualize the process it will take to achieve that success.

Even more important than visualizing the outcome is visualizing the process it will take to achieve that outcome.

Research shows that focusing on the process is critical to success. If you’re procrastinating on a task, take a few moments to think about what you’ll need to do to complete it.

Visualize the following:

• What resources you’ll need
• Who you can turn to for help
• How long the task will take
• Where you’ll work on the task
• The joy you’ll experience as you make progress

This kind of visualization is like practice for your mind.

Once you understand what’s necessary to achieve your goal, you’ll find that it’s much easier to get down to work with real focus. This is key to doing well in school .

15. Write down why you want to complete the task.

You’ll be more motivated when you’re clear about why you want to accomplish something.

To motivate yourself to do your homework, think about all the ways in which it’s a meaningful task.

So take a couple of minutes to write down the reasons. Here are some possible ones:

• Learn useful information
• Master the topic
• Enjoy a sense of accomplishment when you’ve completed the task
• Become a more focused student
• Learn to embrace challenges
• Fulfill your responsibility as a student
• Get a good grade on the assignment

16. Write down the negative feelings you’ll have if you don’t complete the task.

If you don’t complete the assignment, you might feel disappointed or discouraged. You might even feel as if you’ve let your parents or your teacher – or even yourself – down.

It isn’t wise to dwell on these negative emotions for too long. But by imagining how you’ll feel if you don’t finish the task, you’ll realize how important it is that you get to work.

17. Do the hardest task first.

Most students will choose to do the easiest task first, rather than the hardest one. But this approach isn’t effective because it leaves the worst for last.

It’s more difficult to find motivation to do homework in less enjoyable subjects.

As Brian Tracy says , “Eat that frog!” By this, he means that you should always get your most difficult task out of the way at the beginning of the day.

If math is your least favorite subject, force yourself to complete your math homework first.

After doing so, you’ll feel a surge of motivation from knowing it’s finished. And you won’t procrastinate on your other homework because it will seem easier in comparison.

(On a separate note, check out these tips on how to get better at math if you’re struggling.)

18. Set a timer when doing your homework.

I recommend that you use a stopwatch for every homework session. (If you prefer, you could also use this online stopwatch or the Tomato Timer .)

Start the timer at the beginning of the session, and work in 30- to 45-minute blocks.

Using a timer creates a sense of urgency, which will help you fight off your urge to procrastinate.

When you know you only have to work for a short session, it will be easier to find motivation to complete your homework.

Tell yourself that you need to work hard until the timer goes off, and then you can take a break. (And then be sure to take that break!)

19. Eliminate distractions.

Here are some suggestions on how you can do this:

• Delete all the games and social media apps on your phone
• Turn off all notifications on your phone
• Mute your group chats
• Archive your inactive chats
• Turn off your phone, or put it on airplane mode
• Put your phone at least 10 feet away from you
• Turn off the Internet access on your computer
• Use an app like Freedom to restrict your Internet usage
• Put any other distractions (like food, magazines and books unrelated to your homework) at the other end of the room
• Unplug the TV
• Use earplugs if your surroundings are noisy

20. At the start of each day, write down the two to three Most Important Tasks (MITs) you want to accomplish.

This will enable you to prioritize your tasks. As Josh Kaufman explains , a Most Important Task (MIT) is a critical task that will help you to get significant results down the road.

Not all tasks are equally important. That’s why it’s vital that you identify your MITs, so that you can complete those as early in the day as possible.

What do you most need to get done today? That’s an MIT.

Get to work on it, then feel the satisfaction that comes from knowing it’s out of the way.

21. Focus on progress instead of perfection.

Perfectionism can destroy your motivation to do homework and keep you from starting important assignments.

Some students procrastinate because they’re waiting for the perfect time to start.

Others do so because they want to get their homework done perfectly. But they know this isn’t really possible – so they put off even getting started.

What’s the solution?

To focus on progress instead of perfection.

There’s never a perfect time for anything. Nor will you ever be able to complete your homework perfectly. But you can do your best, and that’s enough.

So concentrate on learning and improving, and turn this into a habit that you implement whenever you study .

22. Get organized.

Procrastination is common among students who are disorganized.

When you can’t remember which assignment is due when or which tests you have coming up, you’ll naturally feel confused. You’ll experience school- and test-related stress .

This, in turn, will lead to procrastination.

That’s why it’s crucial that you get organized. Here are some tips for doing this:

• Don’t rely on your memory ; write everything down
• Keep a to-do list
• Use a student planner
• Use a calendar and take note of important dates like exams, project due dates, school holidays , birthdays, and family events
• At the end of each day, plan for the following day
• Use one binder or folder for each subject or course
• Do weekly filing of your loose papers, notes, and old homework
• Throw away all the papers and notes you no longer need

23. Stop saying “I have to” and start saying “I choose to.”

When you say things like “I have to write my essay” or “I have to finish my science assignment,” you’ll probably feel annoyed. You might be tempted to complain about your teachers or your school .

What’s the alternative?

To use the phrase “I choose to.”

The truth is, you don’t “have” to do anything.

You can choose not to write your essay; you’ll just run the risk of failing the class.

You can choose not to do your science assignment; you’ll just need to deal with your angry teacher.

When you say “I choose to do my homework,” you’ll feel empowered. This means you’ll be more motivated to study and to do what you ought to.

24. Clear your desk once a week.

Clutter can be demotivating. It also causes stress , which is often at the root of procrastination.

Hard to believe? Give it a try and see for yourself.

By clearing your desk, you’ll reduce stress and make your workspace more organized.

So set a recurring appointment to organize your workspace once a week for just 10 minutes. You’ll receive huge benefits in the long run!

25. If a task takes two minutes or less to complete, do it now.

This is a principle from David Allen’s bestselling book, Getting Things Done .

You may notice that you tend to procrastinate when many tasks pile up. The way to prevent this from happening is to take care of the small but important tasks as soon as you have time.

Here are some examples of small two-minute tasks that you should do once you have a chance:

• Replying to your project group member’s email
• Picking up anything on the floor that doesn’t belong there
• Asking your parents to sign a consent form
• Filing a graded assignment
• Making a quick phone call
• Writing a checklist
• Sending a text to schedule a meeting
• Making an online purchase that doesn’t require further research

26. Finish one task before starting on the next.

You aren’t being productive when you switch between working on your literature essay, social studies report, and physics problem set – while also intermittently checking your phone.

Research shows that multitasking is less effective than doing one thing at a time. Multitasking may even damage your brain !

When it comes to overcoming procrastination, it’s better to stick with one task all the way through before starting on the next one.

You’ll get a sense of accomplishment when you finish the first assignment, which will give you a boost of inspiration as you move on to the next one.

27. Build your focus gradually.

You can’t win the battle against procrastination overnight; it takes time. This means that you need to build your focus progressively.

If you can only focus for 10 minutes at once, that’s fine. Start with three sessions of 10 minutes a day. After a week, increase it to three sessions of 15 minutes a day, and so on.

As the weeks go by, you’ll become far more focused than when you first started. And you’ll soon see how great that makes you feel.

28. Before you start work, write down three things you’re thankful for.

Gratitude improves your psychological health and increases your mental strength .

These factors are linked to motivation. The more you practice gratitude, the easier it will be to find motivation to do your homework. As such, it’s less likely that you’ll be a serial procrastinator.

Before you get down to work for the day, write down three things you’re thankful for. These could be simple things like good health, fine weather, or a loving family.

You could even do this in a “gratitude journal,” which you can then look back on whenever you need a shot of fresh appreciation for the good things in your life.

Either way, this short exercise will get you in the right mindset to be productive.

29. Get enough sleep.

For most people, this means getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. And teenagers need 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night to function optimally.

What does sleep have to do with procrastination?

More than you might realize.

It’s almost impossible to feel motivated when you’re tired. And when you’re low on energy, your willpower is depleted too.

That’s why you give in to the temptation of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube videos more easily when you’re sleep-deprived.

Here are ways to get more sleep , and sleep better too:

• Create a bedtime routine
• Go to sleep at around the same time every night
• Set a daily alarm as a reminder to go to bed
• Exercise regularly (but not within a few hours of bedtime)
• Make your bedroom as dark as possible
• Remove or switch off all electronic devices before bedtime
• Avoid caffeine at least six hours before bedtime
• Use an eye mask and earplugs

30. Schedule appointments with yourself to complete your homework.

These appointments are specific blocks of time reserved for working on a report, assignment, or project. Scheduling appointments is effective because it makes the task more “official,” so you’re more likely to keep the appointment.

For example, you could schedule appointments such as:

• Jan 25 th , 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Math assignment
• Jan 27 th , 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Online research for social studies project
• Jan 28 th , 4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Write introduction for English essay

Transform homework procrastination into homework motivation

Procrastination is a problem we all face.

But given that you’ve read all the way to here, I know you’re committed to overcoming this problem.

And now that you’re armed with these tips, you have all the tools you need to become more disciplined and focused .

By the way, please don’t feel as if you need to implement all the tips at once, because that would be too overwhelming.

Instead, I recommend that you focus on just a couple of tips a week, and make gradual progress. No rush!

Over time, you’ll realize that your habit of procrastination has been replaced by the habit of getting things done.

Now’s the time to get started on that process of transformation. 🙂

Like this article? Please share it with your friends.

Images: Student and books , Homework , Group of students , Consequences , Why , Writing a list , Organized desk , Gratitude

January 19, 2016 at 11:53 am

Ur tips are rlly helpful. Thnkyou ! 🙂

January 19, 2016 at 1:43 pm

You’re welcome 🙂

August 29, 2018 at 11:21 am

Thanks very much

February 19, 2019 at 1:38 pm

The funny thing is while I was reading the first few steps of this article I was procrastinating on my homework….

November 12, 2019 at 12:44 pm

same here! but now I actually want to get my stuff done… huh

December 4, 2022 at 11:35 pm

May 30, 2023 at 6:26 am

October 25, 2023 at 11:35 am

fr tho i totally was but now I’m actually going to get started haha

June 6, 2020 at 6:04 am

I love your articles

January 21, 2016 at 7:07 pm

Thanks soo much. It’s almost like you could read my mind- when I felt so overwhelmed with the workload heap I had created for myself by procrastination, I know feel very motivated to tackle it out completely and replace that bad habit with the wonderful tips mentioned here! 🙂

January 21, 2016 at 8:04 pm

I’m glad to help 🙂

January 25, 2016 at 3:09 pm

You have shared great tips here. I especially like the point “Write down why you want to complete the task” because it is helpful to make us more motivated when we are clear about our goals

January 25, 2016 at 4:51 pm

Glad that you found the tips useful, John!

January 29, 2016 at 1:22 am

Thank you very much for your wonderful tips!!! ☺☺☺

January 29, 2016 at 10:41 am

It’s my joy to help, Kabir 🙂

February 3, 2016 at 12:57 pm

Always love your articles. Keep them up 🙂

February 3, 2016 at 1:21 pm

Thanks, Matthew 🙂

February 4, 2016 at 1:40 pm

There are quite a lot of things that you need to do in order to come out with flying colors while studying in a university away from your homeland. Procrastinating on homework is one of the major mistakes committed by students and these tips will help you to avoid them all and make yourself more efficient during your student life.

February 4, 2016 at 1:58 pm

Completely agreed, Leong Siew.

October 5, 2018 at 12:52 am

Wow! thank you very much, I love it .

November 2, 2018 at 10:45 am

You are helping me a lot.. thank you very much….😊

November 6, 2018 at 5:19 pm

I’m procrastinating by reading this

November 29, 2018 at 10:21 am

January 8, 2021 at 3:38 am

March 3, 2019 at 9:12 am

Daniel, your amazing information and advice, has been very useful! Please keep up your excellent work!

April 12, 2019 at 11:12 am

We should stop procrastinating.

September 28, 2019 at 5:19 pm

Thank you so much for the tips:) i’ve been procrastinating since i started high schools and my grades were really bad “F” but the tips have made me a straight A student again.

January 23, 2020 at 7:43 pm

Thanks for the tips, Daniel! They’re really useful! 😁

April 10, 2020 at 2:15 pm

I have always stood first in my class. But procrastination has always been a very bad habit of mine which is why I lost marks for late submission .As an excuse for finding motivation for studying I would spend hours on the phone and I would eventually procrastinate. So I tried your tips and tricks today and they really worked.i am so glad and thankful for your help. 🇮🇳Love from India🇮🇳

April 15, 2020 at 11:16 am

Well I’m gonna give this a shot it looks and sounds very helpful thank you guys I really needed this

April 16, 2020 at 9:48 pm

Daniel, your amazing information and advice, has been very useful! keep up your excellent work! May you give more useful content to us.

May 6, 2020 at 5:03 pm

nice article thanks for your sharing.

May 20, 2020 at 4:49 am

Thank you so much this helped me so much but I was wondering about like what if you just like being lazy and stuff and don’t feel like doing anything and you don’t want to tell anyone because you might annoy them and you just don’t want to add your problems and put another burden on theirs

July 12, 2020 at 1:55 am

I’ve read many short procrastination tip articles and always thought they were stupid or overlooking the actual problem. ‘do this and this’ or that and that, and I sit there thinking I CAN’T. This article had some nice original tips that I actually followed and really did make me feel a bit better. Cheers, diving into what will probably be a 3 hour case study.

August 22, 2020 at 10:14 pm

Nicely explain each tips and those are practical thanks for sharing. Dr.Achyut More

November 11, 2020 at 12:34 pm

Thanks a lot! It was very helpful!

November 15, 2020 at 9:11 am

I keep catching myself procrastinating today. I started reading this yesterday, but then I realized I was procrastinating, so I stopped to finish it today. Thank you for all the great tips.

November 30, 2020 at 5:15 pm

Woow this is so great. Thanks so much Daniel

December 3, 2020 at 3:13 am

These tips were very helpful!

December 18, 2020 at 11:54 am

Procrastination is a major problem of mine, and this, this is very helpful. It is very motivational, now I think I can complete my work.

December 28, 2020 at 2:44 pm

Daniel Wong: When you’re doing your homework, is your super-comfortable bed just two steps away? Me: Nope, my super-comfortable bed is one step away. (But I seriously can’t study anywhere else. If I go to the dining table, my mum would be right in front of me talking loudly on the phone with colleagues and other rooms is an absolute no. My mum doesn’t allow me to go outside. Please give me some suggestions. )

September 19, 2022 at 12:14 pm

I would try and find some noise cancelling headphones to play some classical music or get some earbuds to ignore you mum lol

March 1, 2021 at 5:46 pm

Thank you very much. I highly appreciate it.

May 12, 2023 at 3:38 am

This is great advice. My little niece is now six years old and I like to use those nice cheap child friendly workbooks with her. This is done in order to help her to learn things completely on her own. I however prefer to test her on her own knowledge however. After a rather quick demonstration in the lesson I then tend to give her two simple questions to start off with. And it works a treat. Seriously. I love it. She loves it. The exam questions are for her to answer on her own on a notepad. If she can, she will receive a gold medal and a box of sweets. If not she only gets a plastic toy. We do this all the time to help her understand. Once a week we spend up to thirty minutes in a math lesson on this technique for recalling the basic facts. I have had a lot of great success with this new age technique. So I’m going to carry on with it for now.

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Tricks And Hacks For A Failed Assignment, Essay Or Exam

21 Oct 2022

Dealing with failure of any kind can be hard but experiencing failure at university can leave students feeling upset, unmotivated or doubting their abilities.

Whether you’ve failed an assignment, essay or exam, there are things you can do so don’t get yourself too down.

Carry on reading to find out reasons why students may fail at university, and the tricks and hacks to help you out if you’ve not done as well as you hoped on a piece of work!

Common Causes of Failure At University

There are several factors that can come into play when it comes to reasons why a student may have failed an assignment, essay or exam.

It may be that they didn’t understand the subject topic of the specific piece of work, or they may have a lack of confidence in their ability.

It could even be that their quality of teaching wasn’t beneficial to their learning, or they could be an international student who is facing language challenges.

More often than not, a student’s circumstances and mental and physical health is the cause of failure at university.

Such as, they may be worried about their financial circumstances, they may be feeling anxious about being away from home or they could be feeling lonely.

Which in turn, is distracting them from focusing on their degree and their learning.

It’s no surprise that this can lead to failing elements of their course, as there are so many things to think about whilst at university.

Of course, there are other reasons why a student may fail like missing lectures or seminars, as well as a lack of preparation and revision for the assignment, essay of exam.

It could also be that they lacked motivation or interest in the piece of work, so they didn’t put any effort in.

Tricks & Hacks For Dealing With Failure At Uni

If you find yourself experiencing failure at university, there are things that can be done to prevent this from happening again, and to deal with the current situation you’re faced with.

Find out with our 8 tricks and hacks below!

1. Put Things Into Perspective

If you have failed an assignment, essay or exam try to remember to keep things in perspective.

It can be hard to stop yourself from overthinking and presuming the worst, but chances are you will be able to do something about your situation.

If you start to think that that there’s nothing that can be done to change your position or that there’s no use in trying again, try and reframe your negative thoughts into positive ones.

Yes, you may have not done as well on this piece of work, but you can learn from your mistakes and improve for the future.

At the end of the day, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be the only one to have failed a piece of work on your course, so try not to get yourself too worked up.

So, stop and consider whether it’s worth letting yourself get super upset over something that can be changed!

2. Allow Yourself To Feel Your Feelings

Whilst it is important to reframe your negative thoughts and stop yourself from getting too stressed out when dealing with failure at uni, it’s also necessary to allow yourself to feel your feelings.

When experiencing failure, most people experience a range of negative feelings such as sadness, frustration, embarrassment and shame.

Rather than bottling up your emotions, try to get everything out into the open and allow yourself to face failure head on, it’s a key to success after all!

The same goes for preventing failure, you need to allow yourself to accept any small issues that do arise.

For example, if you’re not understanding a section of your course material and you’re beginning to feel stressed, you need to be honest about what’s going on and speak up about this before the problem becomes larger.

You could do this by talking to your course leader or tutor.

3. Accept A Level Of Responsibility

If you’ve flopped on an assignment, essay or exam at uni, one vital thing that you need to do is to accept a level of responsibility and practice some self reflection.

Whilst there may be some contributing factors to why you didn’t do so well on a piece of work like as discussed earlier, you also need to learn from your mistakes.

Try to accept maybe there was things you didn’t do successfully that you can improve upon within the future.

This isn’t an opportunity to blame yourself and be harsh to yourself, but rather a way to identify what needs to change.

Such as, if you didn’t revise as much as you should have or if you stopped going to your lectures and seminars, you need to accept a level of blame for why you failed.

By doing this you will prevent yourself from making the same mistakes in the future, and it means you’ll take accountability for your actions.

4. Be Kind To Yourself

Being kind to yourself is an important step of dealing with failure.

There can be many negative impacts on your self-esteem when you fail a piece of work or fail within other aspects of life.

However, there’s no point in punishing yourself when this happens, you won’t gain anything good from doing this.

Instead, treat your failure the same way you would if a friend came to you for advice.

You wouldn’t criticise them for it, would you?

You would provide them with some non-judgmental advice and support them, so make sure you do the same for yourself.

It’s hard to stop yourself from experiencing feelings of imposter syndrome whilst at uni, you may doubt your abilities and feel like a fraud, but you’re not!

A good way to try and prevent these feelings from intensifying is to not compare yourself to others.

For example, if you’ve failed a piece of work that your friend did really well on, don’t start spiralling into self-doubt.

Instead, focus on the things you did well and the things you can improve on.

Be kind to yourself because at the end of the day, no-one succeeds at everything in life (or uni).

Failure is inevitable and it’s an essential part of growing!

5. Practice Healthy Coping Mechanisms

Hearing that you’ve failed a piece of work can be difficult to hear, however, one of the worst things you can do is go into self-destruct mode.

Whilst university and succeeding academically is an important aspect of your life, try not to practice unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with your feelings of failure.

One of the most common unhealthy coping mechanisms is avoiding the problem altogether and refusing to confront the situation.

Such as, you may avoid your failed assignment, essay or exam and think that because it’s out of sight and out of mind, it will go away.

Or you may think that there’s nothing you can do about it so you give up hope.

Another negative coping mechanism is going out and getting drunk to distract yourself from your problems.

Instead of practicing behaviours such as these, try and practice healthy coping mechanisms such as spending time with friends, watching your favourite films or TV shows, going for walks to relax or even spending time focusing on your hobbies or interests.

Everyone has different coping mechanisms which work for them, so try and find yours.

6. Explore Your Options

Most of the time if you do receive a failed mark, there are several options for you to explore and try to remember that your university do want you to succeed too!

The best thing to do is firstly speak to your module tutor or department for feedback and the best cause of action.

Such options include re-sitting an exam, assignment or essay with a second attempt, although this could be at a capped grade it’s still another chance for you to improve.

There are other options too like re-taking an entire module if it’s necessary.

Although, it’s important to remember that just because you’ve failed one piece of work, it doesn’t mean you can’t receive a good grade overall.

Grades will vary from university and courses, but most of the time you don’t have to re-sit an assignment to end up passing the module or even the year.

Such as, if your averaged course mark is 40 or above, you can pass the module overall regardless of the failed piece of work.

As we said, it’s best to speak to your specific course department about this as some do require you to pass all elements!

7. Applying For Extenuating Circumstances

If you have failed at uni because of a problem out of your control such as an illness or an unexpected passing of a family member, you could look into applying for Extenuating Circumstances at your university.

These are determined on a case-by-case basis so it’s best to speak to your university about this and make a claim.

You may need to provide proof that you’ve experienced something out of your control which has impacted your assessed studies.

If your claim is accepted, you could be given a reassessment opportunity or be able to defer a future exam, assignment or essay.

Another option you could look into if you’ve failed is to make an appeal, which is a way of asking your university to review a mark within your academic studies if you believe it was incorrect or graded unfairly.

8. Set Future Goals

Our final tip and trick to take away is to create a plan to help you move forward and smash your next assignment, essay or exam and all the future ones after that.

Have a think about what you are going to do differently next time and think very clearly about what it is you want to achieve at uni.

It could be that you set realistic goals like attending all your lectures and seminars which you previously skipped last semester.

Additionally, it could be that you dedicate more time to studying within the library or an appropriate amount of time working at home each week to ensure that you receive a good grade.

The best way to do this is to write down the things you’re aiming towards and what you’re going to put into practice, this way you can refer back to them and these tasks will seem more manageable.

We’d recommend setting goals for each term, so that you can review them and see if you’re making progress.

Doing this will assist in your overall academic performance and motivate you to keep improving on your assignments!

Failures can have a big impact on our mental health, so don’t be afraid to reach out for help and support from a professional if you’re really struggling.

You could speak to the student support services at your university about what mental health and wellbeing help is available, or make an appointment with your GP.

We hope we’ve helped you with what to do when things go wrong and ways to avoid failure with our tips and tricks.

Remember, most students fail at some point and there’s always ways to pick yourself back up. You’ve got this!

If you want to improve your sleeping pattern whilst staying in student accommodation , have a read of our guide on Tips and Tricks For Students To Get A Good Nights Sleep.

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20 Reasons Why Students Fail Exam and How To Improve

This article contains the 20 Reasons Why Students Fail Exams And What You Can Do To Improve.

Everyone knows that studying can be a stressful and daunting task. But what a lot of people don’t know is how to get the most out of their study time. In fact, many students fail exams due to stress during the exam period.

To ensure this doesn’t happen to you, it’s important to follow the correct study techniques so that you are fully prepared for your exams.

Here are 20 reasons why students fail exams, however I will provide tips on how you can improve upon these.

1. LAZINESS

This is among the main reasons why people fail.

If you’re a lazy student, you’ll be unable to rise and tackle essential tasks like taking notes from the instructor, completing assignments, or studying to improve your understanding of the subject. Many students struggle to attend classes.

Make yourself ready and complete the things you need to do at the right time.

2. PROCRASTINATION AND LACK OF TIME MANAGEMENT

The majority of lecturers are aware when you hurry your assignment or essay. If you’re a slave to wait until the last minute to finish your work, you will likely finish with less or no value. It is unnecessary to inform you that this often results in low quality and low marks.

The root of this behavior is procrastination. If you continue to shift the reading time until you have no time to read, it can result in rush hour-related preparations.

Even if you’re capable of creating an occasional masterpiece, you’ll only be able to read a handful of pages.

Plan your time well. Make sure you finish your work in time to read all you can, do the necessary research, and then compose your essays in the blink of an eye.

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3. OVERCONFIDENCE

While confidence is great, students must be cautious not to cross that thin line that separates confidence from overconfidence. This is among the traits that are commonly found when students fail.

This is because it is possible to become overwhelmed by yourself that you forget the smallest details that are vital.

Confident students often believe they are smarter than their professors. Even though this could be the case in some instances, a confident student won’t believe that he’s incorrect when he is.

Simply because you’re an outstanding student does not mean that you’ll be able to spot every new twist on a certain issue or subject. You must be open to discovering new ideas.

This is the reverse of what students suffer from low self-esteem. The students do not have confidence in themselves.

These students already understand specific subjects, and consequently, they shut their eyes to any important information provided regarding the subject or topic.

If you’re confident in yourself you’re confident, try to re-learn the things you’ve learned in the past or appear to have discovered yourself.

However, If you lack self-esteem, try believing that you can comprehend what you’re being taught. Be open to learning about new ideas. It’s not a bad idea to study new things.

4. BAD READING HABITS

If you’re unsure what to do with your time or what you can do to improve your study, you haven’t had enough time to research yourself and improve your capabilities. Students are reading at the wrong time and incorrectly.

If you’ve been taught to go to bed early at home, It can be difficult to get up early enough to read. But with perseverance and perseverance, you will be able to revisit and master it.

In the same way, if you’re active for the majority during the working day, you may not be able to read effectively at night.

Even if you’ve been sleeping well during the day, a dim night could not help you learn and comprehend information properly.

You must research the way your body works and then read according to it. It is also possible to instil your reading habits at specific periods, but this requires lots of discipline.

Practice makes perfect. Do as much as you can to avoid a chaotic reading routine. Beginning reading earlier enough allows you to get used to it and be able to remember it better.

You can also achieve success in your exams by practicing with practice exams. To get started, simply click http://www.examlabs.com/ . Additionally, you’ll discover a range of courses on the provided link, and after completing your exams, you can earn certificates to showcase your accomplishments.

5. LACK OF INTEREST

Another cause for students’ lack of interest is a complete absence of interest in a particular topic or subject in the classroom. It could be due to many reasons such as being lazy and uninterested.

There is no way that a student who does not have a passion for a specific subject will be able to pass the tests.

Be focused on the present. Learn about the course with as much seriousness as you would with other fascinating subjects.

Find out everything you need to know in this course. Are you aware that the development of an interest in something comes from the mind? Try to adjust your thoughts regarding that direction too.

6. A WRONG MINDSET

It’s what you set your mind about or believe will be the best for you. If a student is in an attitude of failing every time the test, there’s almost impossible for him to succeed in the exam. Why? He gave up on making the book.

The same is true for someone who has the attitude of success, regardless of the difficulty of a course, and he’ll succeed in passing the exam. Even in the event of a massive failing, there’s a chance that he’ll be able to get a passing grade.

You must have a mindset and believe that regardless of what situation surrounds you, you can get through an exam and be successful.

7. TOO MANY ENGAGEMENTS

Some students are involved in too many activities and cannot turn down requests from others when they are asked to perform a task. Others might not be the cause in this respect. Your parents or guardians may have put them in charge of certain activities and left you with an option.

This could mean you have very little time to devote to your research. In this kind of situation, you could cause you to be exhausted and unmotivated to study.

The fact is that the body always demands rest after an extended period of use. If you do not rest at the proper time or make an opportunity to take a break, your body could break down.

The best way to solve this issue is to cut down on your involvement in the activities you are involved in and then devote that time to taking notes in your class and doing more research.

If you are left with the option, you need to go that extra mile to get the work completed on time to have the remainder of the time to study efficiently, without distractions. As much as you can to stay clear of unnecessary frills and events, clubs, or groups.

8. GROUP OF FRIENDS

Friendships can create or ruin your life. This has been demonstrated at times and is still relevant. The type of business you choose to work for can affect your academic performance in a certain way. Determine how you evaluate your studies.

Your friends can have the ability to discourage or inspire you to do better or motivate. If your friends don’t care if you get through or fail your examinations, they will not care about your marks too.

Thus, ensure that you choose those who share the same goals and values as you do. They will inspire you to improve and boost your performance. These kinds of people will assist you in reading and help you navigate challenging topics and classes.

9. POOR FINANCE

One of the primary reasons that students drop out of school is because of their low financial stability. Students who are financially unstable may not be able to afford the essential equipment and materials to enhance their research and could also eat poorly.

Another issue that could result from financial difficulties can be the fact that the person may need to find alternative options to satisfy their financial requirements, which already creates quite a distraction.

You may need to find an hourly job, and you’ll need to be more thorough in reading than the other. You’re in a shorter time and resources, which means you shouldn’t be comparing yourself to other students.

It is also possible to save by accepting cash-based gifts from your friends. You can never tell how long it will last. It could become a lifesaver. Piggyvest is a trusted method to save either automatically or manually.

10. SO DISORGANIZED

Students, due to insufficiency, do not have a clear plan of action. No plan, no goals. There isn’t an action plan for certain tasks.

If you make decisions randomly and without any or any order, likely, you’ll only be able to address issues in the event of a major repercussion that you fail.

Set your goals in order of priority and importance. It is also important to  practice writing . If your handwriting isn’t giving an excellent impression or causes your instructor to look at his eyes every time he attempts to write your writing, you could be in his hands to score the required marks.

11. HELPLESSNESS

Support systems are essential to be successful in all aspects of daily life. Many students do not have anyone to turn to for advice regarding their education. No one has gone through the educational system, and helping you through some challenges could be difficult.

There’s a need for you to find an adult who can assist you in your academics. This is called academic mentorship. This can help you be accountable to submit to someone who’s interested in your success.

Talk to an adult you trust who will listen to your concerns and assist you to overcome difficulties in all of your classes. The same adult can also help you find other people even if they have no knowledge of your troublesome areas.

Many schools have advisors for courses as well as a guidance or counsel unit that encourages students to succeed in their academic endeavors as well as assist them in dealing with stress at school.

12. INABILITY TO STUDY THE TREND OF EXAM PAST QUESTIONS

Sincere, to be honest, the majority of examiners aren’t looking for failing students. Ask me why. The reason is that exams are, first of all, are designed to assess the comprehension as well as the level of knowledge acquisition of the student.

If you did not pass, you are most likely because you weren’t prepared in the first place and not because your instructor would like to fail you.

Be aware of the pattern in which exams are conducted by an examiner. This will allow you to know what’s expected of him. It will also help you know what you need to be prepared for. But, no student should solely rely on trends in how exams have been conducted since there is the possibility of changes.

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13. INABILITY TO READ WIDELY

Many students have difficulty reading further. They are more inclined to follow the notes that the teacher gives students as notes.

However, notes from the teacher aren’t enough to guarantee quality. If you depend so heavily on the notes from your lecturer without pursuing further knowledge to learn more, you could be stuck in your exams.

The best students take the time  to go beyond the notes they receive in class.

14. INABILITY TO APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE

The majority of students study for the sake of exams only and not to gain knowledge.

The ability to know is as crucial as the exam. Do not be too preoccupied about reading on your own, but be focused and study each aspect of the course.

Learn how it can be applied to your daily activities. It’s nice to have a grasp of the practical and theoretical aspects of the subject.

15. NOT FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS

For each question that is asked in an exam, there’s a correct method to answer it. The majority of the time, students fail to comprehend the questions thoroughly enough to be able to answer properly.

For instance, if the question requires you to write down and explain, If you don’t write a make a list prior to addressing every single point, it is likely that you will be penalized. There’s always a set of rules of guidance that you have to adhere to.

Understanding and reading the questions as well as the directions are extremely important.

16. NOT ARTICULATING ANSWERS WELL

As mentioned earlier in the previous paragraph, there is a method to respond to every question in order to answer it correctly. If you don’t take the proper steps, students will be missing out on certain details.

The way to express answers can vary from following a specific flow of speech to writing clearly and concisely and being precise in responding to the questions that are asked—task accomplishment.

If the responses to the questions posed by the examiner are not clearly articulated by the students, it could be difficult for an examiner to give marks, especially in the case of an anxious person.

Learn to respond to questions in a manner that is appropriate and also make your handwriting legible enough to allow the instructor to read. Get directly to the topic when you answer every question, with minimal or no muttering

17. BAD SLEEPING HABITS

A study has revealed that a time of rest helps calm the mind and make the brain more rejuvenated. If you’ve spent all night reading, then you’ll have to rest during the daytime.

If you read throughout the day, then you must sleep by midnight. It is impossible to stay awake all day long. If you try, you could be sleeping on the examination sheets.

Anyone who isn’t looking to fail their tests should have a solid sleeping routine. You should learn to fall asleep in a timely and regular manner.

The reason is that sleeping or relaxing is a method of increasing capacity to retain memory and improve the ability to remember and also makes the brain aware of learning new information.

18. POOR DIET

Consuming the right foods  has a huge impact on our overall health and how the body performs during the daytime. It also aids in boosting the functioning of the brain.

Many students do not eat the correct food choices, and when they do, they consume it in the wrong way. A poor diet can affect the way that a student can perform physically and academically.

Consume the proper food to aid your body and brain perform at a high level. Eat right at the right time also.

19. INABILITY TO COMPLETE TASKS

Students should give each task the best shot. There are a lot of websites that discuss a particular area. It is possible to take the time to read, comprehend and then write it using your own language.

Beware of plagiarism. This will allow you to develop the creative side of yourself. If you’re committed to everyday tasks and you pass your exams, it is a breeze.

Conduct a thorough and accurate study of the task and assignment given to you. If you encounter any query related to that subject, you’ll be able to answer it in a way that is appropriate.

20. RELYING ON OTHERS/EXAM MALPRACTICE

There’s a routine that is common among students: relying on each fellow student in the exam room. Students could be able to discuss the subject matter of the course between themselves and plan to answer each other when a question related to the subject is asked in the exam question.

There have been instances that the person assigned to be reading a certain subject doesn’t know how to read it. You are unable to comprehend the topic in the exam hall, and you fail the exam.

The school could eventually suspend or even expel these students.

There are a variety of types of exam malpractice. One example is when students depend on their teachers to provide them with the answers in an examination that they take externally.

The situation could be shaky when the teacher who is supposed to be there is not present to take the test. The result is that the student is not able to pass.

The only way to stay clear of the  many consequences of examination malpractice  is to be prepared for the exam and not rely on to be assisted by anyone.

In conclusion, the outcome and/or success in an exam is mostly the responsibility of the student’s performance, not the circumstances of the teacher. This is why it is essential for any student who doesn’t want to be a failure to study well for the exam.

Are you a diligent student? Make yourself a better student today by following the solutions written down under each point raised on the 20 reasons why students fail exams.

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What to Do if You Fail Your Essay, Assignment, Exam or Dissertation

One of the most difficult experiences for students in the UK is the receipt of a failing mark (usually anything marked 39 or below is a fail). It is important to understand that there are many reasons why this can happen to students, and there are usually several options to change the failing mark. Whether you fail an exam , coursework or even the dissertation itself, you have options available so it’s not necessarily the end of the world!

Common Reasons for Failure

Students fail elements of their degree for a number of reasons. The most common issues are not attending lectures, not keeping up with course reading, confusion or lack of understanding of course content, and personal problems that distract students.

How to Avoid Failure Before it Happens

With all of the problems noted above, students can usually avoid failing simply by taking pre-emptive action before the problem spirals out of control. There are several steps to take to ensure that small issues don’t become potential failures.

• Talk to your Academic Tutor. This is a member of the faculty assigned to you at the beginning of your degree programme, who you meet with regularly to discuss your progress. You can contact this person at any time and they can advise you on how to address any challenges you are facing.
• Don’t wait until problems become large. It is always best to be aware that a small issue can quickly become a crisis if you neglect to address it. For example, if you are struggling to understand the course material one week, you will be unlikely to follow along as the course progresses. It is far better to consult with your lecturer early to avoid falling seriously behind later.
• File for ‘Extenuating Circumstances’. Most UK universities understand that students will sometimes face unavoidable difficulties due to prolonged sickness, family problems or financial issues. If you experience one of these problems you can file an ‘Extenuating Circumstances’ form, which formally notifies the university about your problem. Your Academic Tutor will sign this form and together you will construct a plan to catch up on any missed coursework or exams, and you will possibly be granted extensions to normal coursework deadlines.

Re-Assessment Opportunities

If the worst happens and you do receive a failing mark, you have several options. First, you need to understand whether you have failed an element of a module, the entire module, or the dissertation.

Failed Module Element

If you’ve failed one piece of coursework or an exam, it may not be necessary to re-submit that element. If your marks for other module elements are high enough that your averaged course mark is 40 or above, you will pass the module overall regardless of the one failure. In other words, if you receive a mark of 35 on an essay that counts for 40% of your module mark, you can still pass the module if you receive an average mark of 45 on the remaining 60% of the module assessment. However, you may wish to re-submit anyway, in order to achieve a higher overall degree average. The opportunities to allow this vary among Universities, so check the regulations at your own institution.

Failed Module

If you fail an entire module you are usually required to re-sit the assessments, either by re-submitting the coursework or, in some cases, by resitting an exam. The form of the assessment will be decided according to the existing module guidelines, university regulations, and the decisions of the lecturer and board of examiners. The resulting mark is usually capped at a bare pass level, which is typically in the 40-50 range.

Failed Dissertation

If you fail a dissertation, you will usually be given an opportunity to re-submit it by an agreed-upon date. As with a module failure, the marks awarded for a re-submitted dissertation will usually be capped at a bare pass level. It is worth noting that a complete failure of a dissertation is rare at UK universities, and typically occurs only if a student has neglected to meet with their supervisor at regular intervals, or neglected to submit drafts in advance of the final submission.

A Note on Plagiarism

Although university regulations usually allow a student to re-sit exams and assessments, as described above, there are special procedures in place in cases of failure due to plagiarism. If a student is found to have copied work from another source or used the ideas of others without citing their sources appropriately, they may receive a failing mark. In serious cases the matter can be referred to a University Ethics Board, that will have the authority to take a range of measures against the student. In many cases, students found guilty of plagiarising will not be provided with an opportunity to improve their marks, though they could potentially appeal the decision. In short, don’t do it!

Appeal Procedures

In addition to re-submitting assessment elements, you may have grounds appeal the marks awarded to you. This can happen if your university has neglected to take your Extenuating Circumstances into account, or if you were unfairly disadvantaged in any way. Each university has its own procedures for student academic appeals, and in general, it requires a somewhat lengthy process. You must be certain to file the appropriate forms before the deadlines, and fully document the reasons you feel justified in appealing your marks. Your case will be considered by a university exam board, and if you are successful you will be offered options for re-sitting or re-submitting work without restrictions on the potential marks you can earn. Full details of your university’s appeal procedures will be given to you at the start of your degree programme.

While every student hopes to avoid failing or even coming close to failing, sometimes the unthinkable does happen and a failing mark results. These situations can seem terribly disheartening for students, but it is important to remember that universities do offer second chances for genuinely honest and hard-working students!

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I keep leaving important work to the last minute. How can I stop procrastinating?

Procrastination isn’t a personal flaw, writes Guardian Australia’s advice columnist, and the more you treat it like one the worse it becomes

I am in high school and always find myself leaving assignments (especially important ones) to the last minute by procrastinating a lot and, as a result, not getting a great mark.

What can I do to ensure I get my work done earlier and motivate myself to get it done instead of procrastinating?

Eleanor says: A lot of people who procrastinate think they’re just failing, when actually they have a treatable mental health condition. It’s worth asking a professional about your experience. If you’re experiencing garden variety procrastination, I can tell you what’s helped mine. I’m an Olympic level procrastinator. I’ll take the toaster apart and shine its parts and put it back together before I open my emails for the day. I’ll read the footnotes to the footnotes on a Wikipedia page about the bolts they use on Boeings. I’ve seen listicles you people wouldn’t believe.

Here’s what I know.

We procrastinate because we’re trying to avoid the way that working makes us feel. It’s not because we’re lazy. If your parents or your teachers act as though you’re lazy, you can act as though they’re wrong. We do it because working makes us feel bad, bone-deep. Working out exactly which flavour of “bad” your work makes you feel will help, but the basic structure is we’re running away from a feeling by running away from work.

The things we run to have a pattern that’s well worth learning. If you can spot it – like the stripes on a poisonous snake – you’ll be able to avoid mistakes that some of your friends will spend years making. The pattern is: we run to things that promise one feeling while in fact undermining it. In procrastination, the feeling is fun. (In drinking it might be freedom; in gambling, being carefree).

We want fun instead of work, and procrastinating offers it.But the trick is, we don’t ever really get a fun day off, Ferris Bueller style. We just do endless non-work things within plausible leash-range of the computer. Then, when we surface from the bliss of self-erasure we find we have way too little time left for either work or fun.

Procrastinating accordion-crunches your time; it robs you of the hours you need to do what it actually feels fun to do.

You asked what you could do about it. There are too many wonderful resources and systems to describe in full here, but here are two basic ideas.

The first is habit. Start as small as you can. Don’t wrestle directly with big resolutions like “I’ll do all my homework every day”. Just promise yourself something small to start with: I’ll do one homework question first thing when I get home. Just one. Practice being happy with yourself for meeting that habit. A swimming coach I once knew liked to say: you’re faster than the people who didn’t turn up.

The second basic idea is calm. When work goes badly – and it sometimes will – practice responding to that matter-of-factly. So you got a bad mark, you put off something important. It happens.

We avoid things when we find them intolerable, so if you find your mistakes intolerable, you’ll avoid them, which means you’ll avoid fixing them. That can get messy. I know someone who moved country to avoid a procrastinated task. But the more you can tolerate, the less you’ll avoid. So practice tolerating the fact that you procrastinated. Say “I’ll own up to it and try again”. This might involve resisting an adult’s meanness or panic. That’s okay. You can tell them that it’s more helpful to point out what’s still fixable than to dwell on what you can’t change. And you can tell them I said to ask if they were ever late on their tax.

Try not to beat yourself up for the urge to run away from things that feel bad. You’re designed to have it – it keeps you safe. But try to have habits that keep you from running – and if you’re going to run, at least make it towards real fun.

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This article was amended on 11 November 2021 to include an opening sentence advising the letter-writer to discuss their concerns with a doctor.

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Adolescence

3 common reasons why your teen struggles in school, how to effectively help your teen maintain academic success..

Posted August 13, 2019

For teens who struggle with symptoms related to attention deficit disorder , a recurring pattern emerges during the school year. In the beginning, they start out fantastic, with their syllabus, notes, and daily assignments organized by each class in their binders. Then slowly they start to get unorganized.

Either they start with forgetting to turn in assignments, or they neglect to do their assignments. By the time the school contacts you as the parent or guardian, things have taken a turn for the worse. Your son or daughter is several assignments behind and in some cases has given up on taking school seriously. This is usually revealed during the last quarter of the second semester.

In this post, we'll discuss three common reasons your teen struggles in school and how to effectively intervene.

They Are Easily Overwhelmed

The first reason your teen struggles in school may be because he or she gets easily overwhelmed. This is a common symptom with people who struggle with ADHD: They tend to think too fast and feel easily overloaded when they are faced with multiple obligations. A good example would be if your teen has homework in three classes due the following morning at school. However, he has his daily chores at home, and he is insistent on that he is going to get some quality time on his video game.

In cases like this, by the time he is done playing his game, he does not have enough time to attend to his chores and his assignments. Chances are, he or she will do the chores, as fast as possible to get you off his or her case and skip the assignments. Most parents in this situation are choosing not to get into a confrontation with their teen about assignments and will limit confrontation to chores, which are easy to observe. That is, until the parent is contacted by the school.

The solution is for parents to engage in strategic micromanaging. Typically, micromanaging of teenagers is a recipe for prolonged feelings of resentment from the teen. Therefore, strategic micromanaging is recommended. With strategic micromanaging, parents can set up a time with their teen, once a week, where the teen is supposed to come with all their assignments given for the week and for the following week. The parent will then take an inventory of what has been completed and what is due.

With this strategy, parents can keep a pulse of where their teen is in regularly meeting his or her academic obligations. It also works in keeping your teen honest.

They Have a Learning Disability

From dyslexia to dyscalculia, sometimes children can get by with self-improvised coping strategies they have developed over the years. That is until the work gets too complex to improvise. Which is usually by their teenage years. When this happens, your teen will have developed some pretty powerful defense mechanisms to keep anyone from discovering their learning deficit, which they are most likely ashamed of.

These defense mechanisms can range from outbursts to seemingly lethargic behavior when you approach the teen to help with his or her work. Some teens can be so committed to hiding their deficits that parents and teachers end up being focused on the defiant behavior, with the belief that the behavior is the real issue.

Now the obvious answer to a learning disability is getting your teen specialized help. Which is often provided through the school. Prior to this, the real challenge will be for parents to work their way through their teen’s defense mechanisms, in order to get to the real issue.

A tried and true strategy for this will be to adopt a calm and non-reactive response to any defiant behaviors your teen displays around schoolwork. This will be coupled with stern consequences of a loss of privileges while inviting your teen to work with you.

For parents who believe their teens will hold their breaths indefinitely on the issue, or that they have run out of privileges to take, there is another strategy. Create a reward, for your teen to sit with you once a week, while you both take an inventory of how he or she is doing in school.

They Have Poor Impulse Control

Poor impulse control isn’t often as extreme as it sounds; instead, it’s often subtle. Often what poor impulse control looks like, is being easily distracted in the classroom from taking notes, excessive daydreaming and simply engaging in other activities instead of schoolwork, at school or at home.

For parents with teens whose issues with impulse control are severe, they are lucky. This is because with severe impulse control, the behaviors are so severe, they demand constant attention from parents. Which inevitably leads to much-needed intervention.

However, for the more subtle types of poor impulse control, parents are not alerted to what’s going on, until the school year is almost over. Even then, these types of poor impulse control issues are so subtle that even if the teen is failing school, parents still don’t understand why, except for the fact that the teen is not doing his or her schoolwork.

The strategy for this is the same as the one given for teens who are easily overwhelmed: strategic micromanaging. Parents should schedule a meeting with their teens at least once a week, to perform an inventory of how they are doing in school. If your teen struggles with the subtle type of poor impulse control, you will recognize something is wrong by the fourth scheduled meeting.

Ugo Uche is a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in adolescents and young adults.

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What to Do If Your Teen Has Failing Grades in High School

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Finding out your teen has failing grades can be frustrating and scary. After all, failed classes could mean a lower GPA, difficulty getting into college, and perhaps even trouble graduating from high school on time. When high school students fall behind in their classes, catching up can be quite difficult. When grades begin to plummet, many teens give up.

If your teen is failing a class—or they're already failed the entire semester—take action. There are several things you can do to address the issue.

Identify the Problem

If your teen has a failing grade or is in danger of not passing, sit down and discuss the problem. Ask your teen for help uncovering the reasons they are not passing. Sometimes students who start out strong get sidetracked, while other students just aren’t motivated to stay on track.

Talk to your teen and examine whether or not any of these issues have contributed to a failing grade.

• Are the classes too hard? Sometimes teens sign up for classes that are just too difficult and they become overwhelmed.
• Is your child not doing the homework? If your teen isn’t doing homework, it will be extremely difficult to pass a class. Find out if homework isn’t completed, not turned in on time, or if your child doesn’t understand how to do it.
• Are low test scores a problem? Some students struggle with test anxiety or aren’t sure how to study for tests.
• Has your child had a lot of absences? If your child has missed school due to illness or other issues, it can severely interfere with grades.
• Is your child under a lot of stress? If your teen is stressed out, they may have difficulty concentrating and completing his work.
• Could a mental health issue be part of the problem? Mental health problems , such as depression or anxiety often contribute to failing grades. Substance abuse issues can also be a factor in declining grades. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities can impact concentration, motivation, comprehension, and memory.

Talk to the Teachers

Although your teen may not want you to talk to their teachers, it’s important to speak with them to help determine the problem. Your teen may not be aware that they're not paying attention in class or that they're missing a lot of work. Ask for teachers’ opinions about what your child needs to do differently to pass the class.

Consider whether your child may have a learning disability as well. Sometimes learning disabilities or ADHD go undiagnosed until the high school years. Inquire about whether or not educational or psychological testing could be helpful.  

Problem-Solve With Your Teen

Once you have a better idea of why they're failing, sit down and problem-solve with your teen . Discuss they're ideas about how they can improve their grade. Sometimes, simple yet creative solutions can make a big difference.

• Do they need more structure with homework? Some teens just can’t handle having too much freedom about when and where to do their work. Establishing a scheduled homework time can help.
• Do they have difficulty remembering what they have for homework? Teens who are disorganized often misplace their papers or forget to bring their work home. Identify strategies to help your teen get more organized.
• Do they forget to write down their assignments? Some teens try to remember all of their assignments without an assignment book. Other teens forget to write their assignments down. Having your teen write down their work and asking the teacher to initial it after each class can ensure that their assignments are written down.
• Do they need extra help? Many teens are afraid to ask for help because they are embarrassed or they just don’t understand, even when the teacher tries to explain the concepts again. Staying after school for extra help, meeting with a tutor, or joining a homework club can be helpful strategies for many students.
• Are they just not motivated to do their work? Sometimes teens just aren’t all that motivated to complete their work. They may have lost interest or are just bored with a particular subject. Discuss strategies that will help motivate your teen to get their work done.

A Word From Verywell

Work together to develop a plan to address failing grades. Discuss possible strategies to help them improve their grade, such as arranging for tutoring. If they're not able to pass the class, talk to the school about alternative options such as summer school or adult education classes.

Steinmayr R, Crede J, McElvany N, Wirthwein L. Subjective well-being, test anxiety, academic achievement: Testing for reciprocal effects .  Front Psychol . 2016;6:1994. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01994

Pascoe MC, Hetrick SE, Parker AG. The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education .  Int J Adolesc Youth . 2020;25(1):104-112. doi:10.1080/02673843.2019.1596823

Schulte-Körne G. Mental health problems in a school setting in children and adolescents .  Dtsch Arztebl Int . 2016;113(11):183-190. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2016.0183

Patte KA, Qian W, Leatherdale ST. Binge drinking and academic performance, engagement, aspirations, and expectations: A longitudinal analysis among secondary school students in the COMPASS study .  Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can . 2017;37(11):376–385. doi:10.24095/hpcdp.37.11.02

Kent KM, Pelham WE Jr, Molina BS, et al. The academic experience of male high school students with ADHD .  J Abnorm Child Psychol . 2011;39(3):451–462. doi:10.1007/s10802-010-9472-4

American Academy of Pediatrics. What to do if your child is falling behind in school .

By Amy Morin, LCSW Amy Morin, LCSW, is the Editor-in-Chief of Verywell Mind. She's also a psychotherapist, an international bestselling author of books on mental strength and host of The Verywell Mind Podcast. She delivered one of the most popular TEDx talks of all time.

Why it’s hard for students to “just turn in” missing assignments, and how to get them unstuck

Mar 29, 2023 | Blog

With the end of the semester on the horizon, many students may feel overwhelmed by low grades or feeling behind in some of their classes.

As a parent, it can be stressful to see that your student has overdue work, or get notifications from their teacher that they’re missing assignments. 

It’s even more frustrating when you’ve told them over and over again how important it is to “just turn it in”…but the work is still showing up as missing.

The reality is that no matter how simple it might seem to an outside observer, doing missing work is almost never as easy as “just getting it done.” If they haven’t done the work yet, there’s a good chance that something is getting in their way. 

If you can figure out what the problem is before jumping in to help them (or make them) do the work, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success.

In our experience, there are usually 3 main reasons students resist submitting their missing work…even when it seems like “just turning it in” would be SO much easier!

Reason 1: They think it won’t make a difference

Once the due date for an assignment has passed, students often de-prioritize it and move on to focus on upcoming assignments instead. It’s tempting for students to justify this by thinking “there are lots of other assignments, missing one or two won’t matter.”

But what they often don’t realize is that because of the way most grading scales are weighted, even one or two zeros can have an enormous impact on their grade. Showing students the difference it makes to turn in just a few assignments can increase their motivation to get the work done. 

Here’s an example of the difference it can make to turn in just a few missing assignments before the end of the semester:

Overall grade with 3 missing assignments: 78.3%

Overall grade when assignments are turned in: 90.1%

It’s hard for students to calculate these averages in their head, so it can be really powerful for them to run the numbers and see firsthand exactly how much they have to gain from making up their missing assignments.

When we do calculations like this with our students, they are almost always surprised by how much this makeup work could improve their grades, and feel much more motivated to submit the assignments when they can see for themselves the difference it will make.

Reason 2: They think it’s too late

Another reason students often resist doing makeup work is that they think it’s too late to get credit for it. 

Even if they’ve done the math and know that submitting the work would make a difference in their grade, they still won’t want to turn it in if they think the teacher won’t accept it.

Especially for introverted or anxious students, it can be very intimidating to have conversations with their teachers. They might think they’ll get in trouble for asking to submit their work late, or worry that the teacher will say “no.”

The good news is that many teachers are flexible with their late work policies and allow students to turn in overdue assignments even when it is past the “official” deadline to submit them.

So if students can find the courage to ask for help, there is a good chance that their teachers will respond positively and allow them an opportunity to make up the work.

For students who are struggling to reach out to teachers, we often find it is helpful to roleplay these conversations in coaching sessions if they’re not sure what to say, or work with them to email their teachers if they’re not sure what to say.

Reason 3: They feel overwhelmed

Students who are behind on their work often have challenges keeping track of due dates, managing time, breaking down complex assignments, prioritizing work, staying focused, or following through with plans….which is why they fell behind in the first place. 

These challenges can become even more daunting when they are behind in their classes, and trying to complete makeup assignments on top of their normal workload.

This can feel so stressful that a lot of students avoid or put off doing makeup work even when they   know   how much it would improve their grade.

For these students to get their work submitted, it’s essential to help them find ways to…

• Break down the assignments so they have a realistic plan for getting the work done that they’re confident they can actually follow through with
• Lower the stress they feel while they are doing the work so they will be less tempted to avoid it
• Visualize the progress they are making so they can see that their efforts are making a difference

Providing support

When students have a lot of makeup work to complete, having some additional support to help them work through it can be invaluable. 

For some students, this may mean finding a tutor to help them with the content they didn’t understand when their teacher was first presenting the material. 

For other students, having a family member or friend nearby as a source of moral support to keep them company while they are working (and a motivating reward to look forward to as soon as the work is completed) can be enormously helpful.

Other students may benefit from working with an academic coach to help them get unstuck and started on their missing work. Sometimes, having someone else who is not a family member step in to help can reduce stress and conflict at home and make it easier for students to take the steps they need to get back on track in their classes. If you think this type of support would be helpful for your student, please feel free to reach out and we’ll be happy to help! 

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This Is Why You Keep Missing Deadlines

• Kristi DePaul

It’s called “the planning fallacy” and we all fall victim to it.

Think about the last task you completed. Did it take you around the time you’d estimated? Probably not. Our perceptions of our available time, our abilities, and any roadblocks we may hit are greatly skewed. This is a phenomenon called the planning fallacy and it happens to professionals at all levels and in every occupation. What can we do along the way to keep us on target and help us meet our goals?

• Take the outside view : This is grounded in objectivity, data, and statistics, not our own experience or personal biases. The next time you find yourself struggling to estimate, ask: How much time and effort have similar tasks required in the past?
• Commit early and publicly : Give yourself a little bit of external commitment pressure in order to not leave all of your work to the last minute. For example, gather all the resources you need to finish your work offline, then ask your roommate or partner to disable the WiFi and to not reinstate the connection until you emerge from your desk.
• Schedule buffer time : Keep in mind that there will always be factors outside of your control, and moreover, you may very well be overestimating your capabilities. To ensure a more realistic deadline, take your original estimate and increase it by 25%.
• Assume the worst : Start by imagining what will go wrong before it actually does. By doing so, you’ll be better able to foresee potential (if unlikely) issues. And you’ll be equipped to develop a suitable backup plan as a preventative measure.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Imagine: You wake up one morning, and your head pops off the pillow in a panic. That long-awaited report you’ve been chipping away at — ever so slowly — is due in three days.

• KD Kristi DePaul is a content creator whose writing on career navigation and personal branding has appeared in international outlets and has been cited by prominent think tanks and universities. She is founder and principal at Nuanced, a thought leadership firm for executives, and serves as CEO of Founders , a fully remote content agency focused on the future of learning and the future of work. She earned a master’s degree from the H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Dealing With Students Missing Exams and In-Class Graded Assignments

Teachers often become more aware of students’ out-of-class activities than they might wish. Announcements and memos from the dean of students inform about sporting teams and their games and tournaments, forensics, service learning conferences, community-based work, and the like. And teachers quickly become familiar with student lifestyles and illnesses ¾ mono, strep throat, hangovers, the opening of deer and fishing seasons, quilting bees, family vacations, and their family mortality statistics. The relationship between exams and mandatory in-class work and the death of students’ cousins and grandparents is so high it should be a concern of the National Center for Disease Control. Given all this, it is a certainty that students will miss exams and other required activities. What is a teacher to do?

If you want to hear colleagues express frustration, ask them about make-up exams and assignments. Despite knowing intellectually that such absences will occur, teachers hope and pray, even in public institutions, that all of their students will take exams as scheduled. Alas, such prayers are rarely answered, and teachers are faced with the practical issues of keeping track of students who miss exams and assignments, as well as managing make-ups.

All of our advice, except that related to ethics, should be read through the filter of the type of institution where you teach, and the types of courses you teach and how large they are. For example, at a small liberal arts school, where teaching is a faculty member’s primary responsibility, more time may be spent with students who miss exams or assignments, and more creative (time consuming) alternatives may be practical as compared with someone teaching classes of 300 or 500 or more in a Research I institution.

Ethics Teachers are not to cause students harm; we must treat them fairly and equitably, and they must be allowed to maintain their dignity (Keith-Spiegel, Whitley, Balogh, Perkins, & Wittig, 2002). Whatever your procedures are for students who miss exams and required in-class work, they must be equitable, providing students equal chances to earn a good grade by demonstrating equal knowledge. The hard part may be balancing academic rigor and accountability for what students are to learn with a fair and manageable process for those who miss required exams and assignments.

Make-up Exams These should not be more difficult than the original test but must be, as best as you can design, alternate forms of the same exam. Exam banks that accompany texts make designing such alternate forms of multiple-choice tests relatively easy, and colleagues teaching two or more sections of the same course in a semester, who give alternate forms of exams, are often a good source of advice on this matter. Be thoughtful about the following:

• An essay make-up exam may be unethical if regular exams are multiple choice or short answer (or vice versa), since students must study differently and they may be more difficult.
• An oral exam may “punish” students who do not think well on their feet, or are more socially anxious.
• Scheduling make-up exams at inconvenient or undesirable times may express your frustration, but you or someone else will have to be there at the “inconvenient” time also, and such arrangements raise issues of foul play.
• It may be inequitable to students who meet all course requirements to allow their peers to do extra credit or drop their lowest grade instead of making up a missed exam.

In-class Assignments The same considerations exist for students who miss in-class required presentations, or other graded work. If possible, students who were to present should be given opportunities to make up the assignment using the same grading criteria.

Planning Ahead

Spell-out Missed Exam Procedure in Course Policies No matter how well you teach or what inducements or penalties you impose, some students will miss exams and required class activities. Good educational practice argues that you plan for this reality as you design your course, not two days before (or after) your first exam. You want as few surprises as possible once the course begins.

Put your policies in your syllabus. Have a section in your syllabus on exams and other graded work. Specify your policies and procedures if students know in advance they will be absent, or how to notify you if, for whatever reason, they were absent, and any effect, if any, absences will have on their grade.

Keep your policy clear and simple. Before finalizing your syllabus, ask a few students to read your make-up policy to determine if it can be easily understood. If your explanation of what students are to do in the case of missing an exam, and how their grade is affected, is not easily understood, revise it. In developing your policy, do you want students to:

• Notify you if they know they will miss, preferably at least 24 hours in advance, and give you the reason? Talking with you before or after class offers the best opportunity to provide feedback if the reason is questionable, to work out alternatives, and so forth. E-mail also can be useful.
• Notify you as soon as possible after missing an exam or required assignment and give the reason? Again, in person or e-mail work best.
• Present a letter from an authority (e.g., physician) documenting the reason? Keep in mind any student can “forge” such documentation or manipulate it in other ways, e.g., “Fred came to see me complaining of a severe headache.”
• Have their grades lowered if their absence is not “acceptable” (e.g., overslept versus seriously ill)? How will you decide what is acceptable? Our experience suggests that “legitimate” reasons for absence include, but are not limited to: illness of the student or a close relative, accident, court appearance, military duty, broken auto, hazardous weather, and university activities (e.g., athletics, forensics).

Policies should reflect the nature of the exam or graded assignment. If you are teaching an introductory course and each module largely stands alone, it may be appropriate for students to make up a missed exam late in the semester. But if you want students to demonstrate knowledge or competency on an exam or assignment because future course material builds on that which comes earlier, you want to give the students much less time to make up the missed work.

Common policies. A common procedure is for the teacher, teaching assistant, or departmental secretary to distribute and proctor make-up exams during prearranged times (Perlman&McCann, in press). You might also consider allowing students to take make-up exams during exam periods in other courses you are teaching.

Make your policies easy to implement. To maintain your sanity and keep your stress level manageable, you must be able to easily implement your policies. For example, even if you, a secretary, or a graduate student distribute and proctor make-up exams, problems can arise. For example:

• The secretary is ill or on vacation, or you are ill or have a conference to attend. You never want to change the time make-ups are available to students once these are listed in the course syllabus. Have backups available who know where make-up exams are stored, can access them, and can administer and proctor them.
• Too many students for the make-up space. Investigate room sizes and number of rooms available. You may need more than one room if some students have readers because of learning disabilities.
• Students often forget there is a common make-up the last week of the semester. Remind them often and announce this policy on class days when students are taking an exam, as this may be the only time some students who have missed a previous exam come to class.

Encourage appropriate, responsible, mature behaviors. Take the high road and let students know how they “should” behave. For example, one colleague includes this statement in the syllabus:

I expect students to make every effort to take required exams and make course presentations as scheduled. If you know in advance you will miss such a requirement, please notify me. If you are ill or other circumstances cause you to miss a required graded activity, notify me as soon as possible.

One of our colleagues states in her syllabus for a psychology of aging class, “It is very bad form to invent illnesses suffered by grandparents!” By giving students exemplars on how to behave appropriately, you can then thank them for their courtesy and maturity if they follow through, positively reinforcing such behaviors.

God lives in the details. Always err on the side of being “concrete.” If a make-up exam is at the university testing center, tell students where the testing center is. If you or a secretary hold make-up exams in an office, you may want to draw a map on how to get there. It is not uncommon for students to fail to find the office at the time of the exam, and wander around a large university building.

Students Who Miss Exams You have a variety of alternatives available on how to treat students who miss a scheduled exam. Select those that fit your course and the requirements of learning students must demonstrate.

Requiring make-up exams. If you collect all copies of your multiple choice or short answer exams, you may be able to use the same exam for make-ups. Our experience is that it is extremely rare that students deliberately miss an exam to have more time to study, whereas asking peers about specific exam questions more commonly occurs. Your experiences may be different. However, if you put exams on file at the university testing center, and students can take them weeks apart, you may want different forms. If you have concerns, you will need to prepare an equivalent, alternative form of the regular exam, as is often the case for essay tests.

Using procedures other than a make-up exam. Some faculty have students outline all text chapters required for an exam, use daily quiz scores to substitute for a missed exam, use the average of students’ exams to substitute for the one missed, score relevant questions on the comprehensive final to substitute for the missed test, or use a weighted score from the entire comprehensive final substituted for missed exam. Some teachers just drop one test grade without penalty (Buchanan&Rogers, 1990; Sleigh&Ritzer, 2001). Consider whether students will learn what you want from various alternatives and whether this work is equal to what students must demonstrate on exams before adopting such procedures. If your course contains numerous graded assignments of equal difficulty, and if it is equitable for students to choose to ignore a course module by not studying or taking the exam, you should consider this process.

Other teachers build extra credit into the course. They allow all students opportunities to raise their grades, offering a safety net of sorts for those who need to “make-up” a missed exam by doing “additional” assignments such as outlining unassigned chapters in the text.

Scheduling make-ups. Pick one or two times a week that are convenient for you, a department secretary, or teaching assistant, and schedule your make-ups then. Some faculty use a common time midway through the semester and at the end of the semester as an alternative.

Students Who Miss Other In-Class Assignments Allowing students to demonstrate learning on non-exam graded assignments can be tricky. Such assignments often measure different kinds of learning than exams: the ability to work in groups, critical thinking as demonstrated in a poster, or an oral presentation graded in part on professional use of language. But you do have some alternatives.

Keeping the required assignment the same. If the assignment is a large one and due near the end of the semester, consider using an “incomplete” grade for students who miss it. Alternatively, students can present their oral work or poster in another course you are teaching if the content is relevant and time allows it. The oral required assignment also can be delivered just to the teacher or videotaped or turned in on audiotape.

Alternative assignments. As with missed exams, you can weigh other assignments disproportionately to substitute for in-class graded work — by doubling a similar assignment if you have more than one during the semester, for example. The dilemma, of course, is not allowing students easy avenues to avoid a required module or assignment without penalty. For example, oral assignments can be turned in as written work, although this may negate some of the reasons for the assignment.

When we asked colleagues about alternatives for missed in-class graded assignments (as compared with exams), almost everyone cautioned against listing them in the course syllabus. They felt that students could then weigh the make-up assignment versus the original and choose the one that gave them the greatest chance of doing well, and also the least amount of anxiety (in-class presentations often make students nervous). They recommended simply telling students that arrangements would be made for those missing in-class required graded work on a case-by-case basis.

Students Who Miss the “Make-Up” On occasion, students will miss a scheduled make-up. Say something about this event in your syllabus, emphasizing the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor. We recommend that instructors reserve the right to lower a student’s grade by “x” number of points, or “x” letter grades. If you place exams at a university testing center, you may not find out the work has not been made up until the course is over, leaving you little choice but to give the student an “F” on that exam or assignment.

When the Whole Class Misses a Required Exam or Assignment On rare, but very memorable, occasions the entire class may miss an exam or assignment. For example, both authors have had the fire alarm go off during an exam. After a bomb threat cleared the building during his exam, the campus police actually contacted one author to identify whether a person caught on camera at a service station was a student calling in the bomb scare. (It was not.) The other author experienced the bomb squad closing a classroom building during finals week due to the discovery of old, potentially explosive, laboratory chemicals. Of course, the blizzard of the century or a flood might occur the night before your exam. What is a teacher to do?

The exam or graded assignment must be delayed. Prepare beforehand. Always build a make-up policy into your syllabus for the last exam or student presentation in a course. Talk with your department chair or dean about college or university policy. State that if weather or other circumstances force a make-up, it will occur at a certain time and place. This forethought is especially important if you teach at a northern institution where bad winter weather is not unusual. For exams and assignments during the semester, the policy that works best is to reschedule them (again, stating this in your syllabus) for the next regular class period. Call attention to this policy early in the semester, and post it on your course Web site. The last thing you want to do is call or e-mail everyone in the class to tell them an exam has been cancelled.

An exam or graded assignment is interrupted. Graded assignments such as oral presentations are easily handled. If time allows, continue after the interruption; if not, continue the next class period or during your designated “make-up” time.

If something interrupts an exam, ask students to leave their exams and answers on their desks or hand them in to you, take all personal materials, and leave immediately. A teacher can easily collect everything left in most classes in a few moments. Leave materials on desks if the class is large, or be the first person back to the room after the interruption. Fire alarms, bomb scares, and the like usually cause a lot of hubbub. Only if you have a lengthy two- or three-hour class, with time to allow students to collect themselves and refocus, and no concern about their comparing answers to questions during the delay, should the exam be continued that same day or evening.

If the interruption occurs late in the class period, you might tell students to turn in their work as they leave. You can then determine how you want to grade exams or the assignment, using pro-rated points or percentages, and assign grades accordingly.

If the interruption is earlier in the hour, the exam will have to be delayed, usually until the next class period. With a multiple-choice exam, we advise giving students the full (next) class period to finish their exams. If you are concerned about students comparing questions they have already answered, you will have to quickly develop an alternate exam.

A teacher’s decisions are more complicated if the exam is short answer or essay. Students may have skimmed all essay or short answer questions before an interruption. Will they prepare for those questions before the next class period? What if some students only read the first essay question but do not know the others they must answer? Preparing an alternate exam may be feasible, but students need to know you will do so, so they do not concentrate their studying on specific topics you will not ask about.

We know that such class interruptions are rare, but they can wreak havoc with students and teachers, be stressful, and raise issues of fairness that echo throughout the rest of the course. We advise teachers to talk with colleagues, and we have found a department brown bag on the topic fascinating. Your colleagues may have some creative and sound advice.

Summary A teacher needs to plan ahead. Take some time to think about what it means for you and students who miss required in-class work. A little preparation can save a lot of time and hassle later in the semester. Students deserve and will appreciate policies that are equitable and manageable.

Author’s Note: The authors are interested how teachers deal with missed or interrupted graded in-class work (and their horror stories). Contact us with your ideas and experiences at [email protected] .

References and Recommended Reading

• Buchanan, R. W., & Rogers, M. (1990). Innovative assessment in large classes. College Teaching, 38 , 69-74.
• Carper, S. W. (1995). Make-up exams: What’s a professor to do? Journal of Chemical Education, 72 , 883.
• Davis, B. G. (1993). Tools for teaching . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Keith-Spiegel, P., Whitley, B.G. E. Jr., Balogh, D. W., Perkins, D. V., & Wittig, A. F. (2002). The ethics of teaching: A casebook (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• McKeachie, W. J. (2001). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (11th ed.) Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
• Nilson, L. B. (2003). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (2nd ed). Bolton, MA: Anker.
• Perlman, B., & McCann, L. I. (in press). Teacher evaluations of make-up exam procedures. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 3 (2).
• Sleigh, M. J., & Ritzer, D. R. (2001). Encouraging student attendance. APS Observer, 14 (9), pp. 19-20, 32.

Do you know of any research related to taking points off an exam for students who take a make-up for whatever reason? It is mentioned in this article but I’m interested in evidence to back up that it is fair and/or punitive in a college setting with adult learners. Thank you. Gerri Russell, MS, RN

I teach introductory nutrition and other biology classes. If a student can prove that they missed an exam or assignment for a verifiable reason, even if they let me know ahead of time (usually technology related reasons), I let them make it up without taking points off. If they can’t prove it I take off points as follows: 10% off per day late during the first week after the assignment is due. Half credit earned after that. Even if they know there are always students who just miss things for no apparent good reason. I feel like this is fair because it gives them the responsibility for making it up, and I’d rather people become familiar with the material, rather than just not do it at all.

I think that the mid semester tests must be abolished from all colleges/universities in order to let them prepare for the final exams without any pressure of getting grades,this will not give rise to any decompetition then,so I personally feel that my suggestion will be very useful I want everyone to obey that

APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines .

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About the Author

BARON PERLMAN is editor of "Teaching Tips." A professor in the department of psychology, distinguished teacher, and University and Rosebush Professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in the department of psychology, he has taught psychology for 29 years. He continues to work to master the art and craft of teaching. LEE I. MCCANN is co-editor of "Teaching Tips." A professor in the department of psychology and a University and Rosebush Professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, he has taught psychology for 38 years. He has presented numerous workshops on teaching and psychology curricula, his current research interests.

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What to do if you fail an assignment

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Failing an assignment is always an awful feeling. Whether you just didn’t understand the work, or for some reason completely misunderstood the task, it’s never easy seeing that low mark on your screen. If you’re wondering what to do and where to go for help, here’s some advice on what to do if you fail an assignment!

What counts as a fail?

A failed assignment usually means that it scores under 40%. This also goes for the overall module mark as well. If you score less than 40% in the overall module, then you will fail that module too. It’s important to check the weighting of the assignment, because even if it is a fail, you may still have a chance to pass the module overall.

It’s not the end of the world

Don’t panic! Failing an assignment doesn’t mean you’re going to fail university and have to drop out! First of all, it’s worth checking what percentage of the module the assignment. If you fail one assignment, but do well in the others, you can still pass the module without having to worry! This obviously means you probably won’t get a first, but passing is always the most important bit. You can find out more about how the overall UK uni grading system works here.

If you fail the module

If your assignment was a huge chunk of the module, then you will most probably fail the module. When this happens, it’s important to get in touch with your lecturer to see what the next steps are. You may be able to resit an exam if that contributed to the failure of the module, or you may be able to pass anyway. However, you do need a certain amount of credits (usually 120) to pass the year, and if you don’t achieve this, then you will have to resit the whole year.

Why you failed the assignment

If you failed the assignment due to sickness or ongoing issues, then you should definitely tell your lecturer to see if something can be done. Obviously, you should apply for extenuating circumstances before you submit your assignment, but if you haven’t, then email your lecturer to see if anything can be changed. If you failed because of plagiarism, check your sources and referencing to ensure that you did it right. If you can’t find any mistakes, tell your lecturer who can help you sort out an appeal.

You can still save your grade

If it’s only your first assignment, then don’t worry too much. You can still do really well in other assignments in the module, giving you a pass overall! If you don’t understand the work you’re doing or just need help writing essays in general, your university should have someone who can offer support to you. This can include services within the university who offer meetings on essay writing. Discussing your feedback with your lecturer will make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes in your next assignment.

You can appeal

If you disagree with a grade you’ve been given, then appeal! Essay writing can be subjective, so if you think you were scored lower than you deserved, email your lecturer about getting your work re-marked. If you disagree with the feedback you’ve been given, it’s always worth asking your lecturer about it, as they may have made a mistake whilst marking your work. If you do email your lecturer, it’s always best to be nice about it, since everyone can make mistakes.

Talk to your lecturer!

Your lecturer or academic tutor will be able to offer you the best advice. Depending on your university, you might be able to resit. They can also direct you towards who to talk to if you would like your work to be re-marked. If you do end up failing the module or the year, they can offer the best advice on what to do next. You’re not the first person to have failed an assignment,  so they will definitely know what to do to help.

Failing an assignment is never the end of the world, and whatever happens everything will be alright. If you do think you’re going to fail the year, then read our article on what happens if you fail your first year of university .

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10 Healthy Ways to Cope With Failure

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Carly Snyder, MD is a reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist who combines traditional psychiatry with integrative medicine-based treatments.

Whether you were denied a promotion at the office or you didn't qualify for a marathon, failing feels bad. Many people will go to great lengths to avoid failing so they don’t have to feel painful emotions.

There are many reasons why you might be feeling like a failure. Some factors that might play a role include:

• A sense of hopelessness
• Feelings of helplessness
• Lack of supportive relationships
• Low self-esteem
• Making comparisons with others
• Poor self-concept
• Negative self-talk
• Unrealistic expectations

If you find yourself thinking, "I am a failure," it's important to know that there are things you can do to feel better. Knowing how to deal with failure in a healthy way takes some of the fear out of it—and it might reduce the pain so you can bounce back better than before.

First of all, it's important to acknowledge that everybody fails at one time or another, but that doesn't make us failures—it just means we are human, and that things didn't work out this time.

Embrace Your Emotions

Astrakan Images / Getty Images

Failure is accompanied by a variety of emotions: embarrassment, anxiety, anger, sadness, and shame, to name a few. Those feelings are uncomfortable, and many people will do anything they can to escape feeling emotional discomfort .

A 2017 study published in the  Journal of Behavioral Decision Making  says you shouldn’t try to slough off feeling bad after failure. Researchers discovered that thinking about your emotions—rather than the failure itself—is most helpful.

Allowing yourself to feel bad is motivating. It can help you work harder to find better solutions so that you’ll improve next time.

So, go ahead and embrace your emotions. Acknowledge how you’re feeling and let yourself feel bad for a bit. Label your emotions as you allow yourself to experience them. For example, you might think, "I'm disappointed," or "I'm sad that didn't work out."

Recognize Unhealthy Attempts to Reduce Pain

You might be tempted to say, “I didn’t actually want that job anyway,” but minimizing your pain won’t make it go away. Distracting yourself or filling the void you feel with food , drugs , or alcohol won’t heal your pain either. Those things will only provide you with some temporary relief.

Recognize the unhealthy ways you try to avoid or minimize pain in your life. Turning to coping mechanisms that do more harm than good will only make your situation worse.

Practice Healthy Coping Skills

Calling a friend, practicing deep breathing, taking a bubble bath, going for a walk, or playing with your pet are just a few examples of healthy ways to deal with your pain. Not every coping skill works for everyone, however, so it’s important to find what does for you.

If you struggle with bad habits when you’re stressed out—like smoking or eating junk food—create a list of healthy coping skills and hang it in a prominent place. Then, use your list to remind yourself of the healthier strategies you can turn to when you’re feeling bad.

Acknowledge Irrational Beliefs About Failure

You may have developed some irrational beliefs about failure at some point in your life. Perhaps you think failure means you’re bad or that you’ll never succeed. Or maybe you think no one will like you if you fail.

Those types of beliefs are inaccurate, and they can prevent you from doing things where you might not succeed. Make a point to identify the irrational beliefs that might be impacting your feelings and behavior.

Develop Realistic Thoughts About Failure

A 2016 review published in Clinical Psychology Review of 46 studies examining reactions to failure found that "more positive attributional style " was a strong factor in how resilient people were to the emotional distress caused by failure. In other words, seeing the failure as a result of something specific and external rather than something internal.

When you find yourself thinking that you’re a hopeless cause or that there’s no use in trying again, reframe your thoughts . Remind yourself of more realistic thoughts about failure such as:

• Failure is a sign that I’m challenging myself to do something difficult.
• I can handle failure.
• I can learn from my failures.

You may need to repeat a phrase or affirmation to ward off negative thoughts or to reinforce to yourself that you can bounce back.

Accept an Appropriate Level of Responsibility

It’s important to accept an accurate level of responsibility for your failure. Taking on too much may cause you to unnecessarily blame yourself. On the other hand, blaming other people or unfortunate circumstances on your failure will prevent you from learning from it.

When you think about your failure, look for explanations, not excuses. Identify the reasons you failed and acknowledge what you can do differently next time.

Research Famous Failures

From Thomas Edison to Walt Disney, there’s no shortage of famous failures. Spend some time researching famous people who have failed. You’ll likely find that they did so many times along the way.

Many successful people continue to fail regularly. Actors get rejected for roles, athletes get cut from the team, and business owners get turned down for deals.

Study what they did to bounce back. You might learn skills that can help you in your own life. It can be helpful to see that failure is something that everyone deals with.

Ask Yourself What You Can Learn

Failure can be a great teacher if you’re open to learning. Did you make a mistake? Did you make a whole series of mistakes?

Think about what you could do differently next time. Then, you will ensure your failure has become a life lesson that helped you learn something.

Instead of seeing a failure as a burden weighing you down, look at it as a stepping stone toward your goals.

Create a Plan for Moving Forward

Once you've identified your mistakes and where you can learn from them, you'll be ready to make a plan for moving forward. Remember that dwelling on your problems or rehashing your mistakes will keep you stuck. Stop thinking, "I am a failure," and focus on thinking, "I am capable of trying again."

With your new learnings, think about what you’ll do differently next time. Create a plan that will help you put the information you gained into practice.

Face Your Fears of Failure

If you’ve spent most of your life avoiding failure, it can feel really scary when it finally happens. Facing your fears, however, can be the key to reducing the discomfort.

Practice stepping outside your comfort zone . Do things that might get you rejected or try new things where you could fail. Over time, you’ll learn that failure isn’t as bad as you might imagine. It will help you learn to face your fear of failure in a way that can be productive and help you reach your goals.

A Word From Verywell

Sometimes, failure becomes debilitating. If you’re struggling to function after you’ve failed at something, consider seeking professional help. Whether you’ve experienced a failed marriage or you’ve failed in business, talking to a mental health professional can assist you in bouncing back.

Nelson N, Malkoc S, Shiv B. Emotions know best: the advantage of emotional versus cognitive responses to failure .  J Behav Decis Mak . 2017;31(1):40-51. doi:10.1002/bdm.2042

Johnson J, Panagioti M, Bass J, Ramsey L, Harrison R. Resilience to emotional distress in response to failure, error or mistakes: A systematic review . Clinical Psychology Review . 2017;52:19-42. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2016.11.007

By Amy Morin, LCSW Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Help Articles

Troubleshoot quizzes & assignments, learner help center mar 8, 2024 • knowledge, article details.

This article will help you troubleshoot assessments in your course.

If you're having a problem with peer-reviewed assignments , check our  troubleshooting page for peer reviewed assignments .

Some assessments use third-party tools (these will say External Tool when you view them). If you have a technical issue with these tools, try posting in your course discussion forum or searching the third-party’s website for help (our Support Team may not be able to assist with third-party tools).

Can't start or retake assessment

There may be a few reasons why you aren’t able to start or retake an assessment.

Locked assessments

You may not be able to start an assessment if it’s locked. Locked assessments will be marked with a lock icon when you view them in your course. You can open the assessment for more information on why it’s locked.

See this section for more info about locked assessments. 

Attempt limits

Some assessments may have a maximum number of attempts. You may get more attempts after a set amount of time. You can see this info when you open the assessment.

Staff-graded assignments

In private courses (such as courses in a Degree program), some assessments may be manually graded by your course staff. Once your course staff has started grading the assessment, you won’t be able to start a new attempt. You can open the assessment to see if grading has started.

If you don’t pass the assessment, you may be able to retake it after you’ve received a grade (as long as you haven’t met your attempt limit).

Learn more about grading in private courses

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If an assessment in your course has a lock icon next to it, you can open the assessment to see why it’s locked. You can use the troubleshooting information below to help unlock your assessments.

Pay the course certificate fee

If you’re auditing a course, graded assessments will be locked. Graded assessments will also be locked if your course payment expires.

You can pay the course certificate fee to unlock graded assessments and earn a certificate in the course.

Reset your deadlines

In some courses, assessments may be locked if you fall behind your personalized deadline. You can reset your deadlines to unlock these assessments.

Resetting your deadlines won’t affect your grade, and your progress in the course will be saved.

Passing previous assessments

For some courses, certain assessments will be locked until you've completed all the previous assessments and received a passing grade. 

You can view the Grades tab in your course to check for assessments that haven’t received a grade. 

Keep in mind that  peer-graded assignments may take 7-10 days to receive a grade (starting from the due date). If you’re taking a private course that uses  staff-graded assignments , it may take a while to receive a grade from your course staff. 

Completing previous course items

In some courses, your instructor may have chosen to lock graded assessments until you’ve completed all the previous items in that module.

When you open the assessment, you’ll see a notification that you haven't completed all the items in the module. If you see this notification, you’ll need to complete all items in the module to unlock your graded assessments. This includes any videos, readings, discussion prompts, or ungraded assessments. Completed assessments will be displayed with a green checkmark on the overview page for that module. 

If you’ve completed a course item that isn’t showing up as complete, try these troubleshooting tips.

Locked by course staff

In private courses (such as courses in a Degree program), your instructor may choose to make assessments available during specific date ranges. These assessments will be locked if you try to access them before or after those dates. You can open the assessment to see when it will be unlocked. 

Can't submit assessment

If you're having trouble submitting an assignment, make sure:

• You're submitting the correct assessment in the correct session.
• You're uploading the correct type of file (check the assignment information for any file type requirements).
• The file size isn't too big (we recommend files smaller than 10MB).
• You're using a  recommended browser.
• You've added https: to any URLs.
• For peer-graded assignments, see our  troubleshooting page.

You can also try uploading your assessment from a different network configuration (home vs. work) or checking your firewall settings.

Missing assessment after submitting

If you submitted your assessment, but you don't see a confirmation that you submitted it, you may have saved it as a draft instead of submitting.

To check for a saved draft on Coursera's new platform:

• Open the course the assignment is in.
• Click Grades and open the assignment you want to check for a saved draft.
• Click My submission.
• If your assignment has been saved as a draft, you'll be able to see and edit it. If you can see your assignment, but you can't edit it, that means you submitted the assignment.
• To submit your saved draft, click Submit at the bottom of the page. If your assignment was submitted but you didn't pass, you can choose Retake .

If you don't see any record of an assignment that you're sure you submitted:

• You may have accidentally created a second Coursera account and submitted the assignment from that account. Try  checking for a second account .
• You may need to clear your cache & cookies, then reload the page, to see the update after you submit an assignment.

Missing an assessment grade

Most assessments are automatically graded, so you’ll receive a grade immediately after you submit it. You can check the  status of your assessment in the Grades tab (you may need to refresh the page).

If you’re missing a grade for a programming assignment, check the  troubleshooting steps for programming assignments .

Assessments that aren’t auto-graded

Some assessments are not graded automatically, such as  peer-graded assignments and staff-graded assignments (for private courses). Open your assessment to check if you’re waiting for a grade from your peers or course staff.

Misunderstandings or disagreement with grade

If you have a grade for an assessment that you don't understand or you think is unfair:

• Check your course syllabus for grading information and requirements.
• Try  re-submitting the assignment to be graded again.
• Ask a question in the  discussion forums for the course.
• If you got inappropriate feedback from a peer, you can  report it.
• If you think your grade is wrong because of an error in the course materials, you can  flag it.

As a heads up, our Support Team can’t explain or change your grade for an assessment, since grading is determined by your instructor. You can email your dedicated support email alias for your Degree or MasterTrack program if you have questions about your grade.

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Man or bear? Hypothetical question sparks conversation about women's safety

Women explain why they would feel safer encountering a bear in the forest than a man they didn't know. the hypothetical has sparked a broader discussion about why women fear men..

If you were alone in the woods, would you rather encounter a bear or a man? Answers to that hypothetical question have sparked a debate about why the vast majority say they would feel more comfortable choosing a bear.

The topic has been hotly discussed for weeks as men and women chimed in with their thoughts all over social media.

Screenshot HQ , a TikTok account, started the conversation, asking a group of women whether they would rather run into a man they didn't know or a bear in the forest. Out of the seven women interviewed for the piece, only one picked a man.

"Bear. Man is scary," one of the women responds.

A number of women echoed the responses given in the original video, writing in the comments that they, too, would pick a bear over a man. The hypothetical has people split, with some expressing their sadness over the state of the world and others cracking jokes. Some men were flabbergasted.

Here's what we know.

A bear is the safer choice, no doubt about it, many say

There were a lot of responses, more than 65,000, under the original post. Many wrote that they understood why the women would choose a bear.

"No one’s gonna ask me if I led the bear on or give me a pamphlet on bear attack prevention tips," @celestiallystunning wrote.

@Brennduhh wrote: "When I die leave my body in the woods, the wolves will be gentler than any man."

"I know a bear's intentions," another woman wrote. "I don't know a man's intentions. no matter how nice they are."

Other TikTok users took it one step further, posing the hypothetical question to loved ones. Meredith Steele, who goes by @babiesofsteele , asked her husband last week whether he would rather have their daughter encounter a bear or a man in the woods. Her husband said he "didn't like either option" but said he was leaning toward the bear.

"Maybe it's a friendly bear," he says.

Diana, another TikTok user , asked her sister-in-law what she would choose and was left speechless.

"I asked her the question, you know, just for giggles. She was like, 'You know, I would rather it be a bear because if the bear attacks me, and I make it out of the woods, everybody’s gonna believe me and have sympathy for me," she said. "But if a man attacks me and I make it out, I’m gonna spend my whole life trying to get people to believe me and have sympathy for me.'"

Bear vs. man debate stirs the pot, woman and some men at odds

The hypothetical has caused some tension, with some women arguing that men will never truly understand what it's like to be a woman or the inherent dangers at play.

Social media users answered this question for themselves, producing memes, spoken word poetry and skits in the days and weeks since.

So, what would you choose?

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Johnson Survives Greene’s Ouster Attempt as Democrats Join G.O.P. to Kill It

Republicans and Democrats banded together to block a motion by the right-wing Georgia congresswoman to remove the speaker.

By Catie Edmondson ,  Carl Hulse and Kayla Guo

Reporting from Capitol Hill

Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday easily batted down an attempt by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to oust him from his post, after Democrats linked arms with most Republicans to fend off a second attempt by G.O.P. hard-liners to strip the gavel from their party leader.

The vote to kill the effort was an overwhelming 359 to 43, with seven voting “present.” Democrats flocked to Mr. Johnson’s rescue, with all but 39 of them voting with Republicans to block the effort to oust him.

Members of the minority party in the House have never propped up the other party’s speaker, and when the last Republican to hold the post, Kevin McCarthy, faced a removal vote last fall, Democrats voted en masse to allow the motion to move forward and then to jettison him, helping lead to his historic ouster.

This time, the Democratic support made the critical difference, allowing Mr. Johnson, who has a minuscule majority, to avoid a removal vote altogether. While for weeks Ms. Greene had appeared to be on a political island in her drive to get rid of yet another G.O.P. speaker, 11 Republicans ultimately voted to allow her motion to move forward.

That was the same number of Republicans who voted in October to allow the bid to remove Mr. McCarthy to advance — but back then, they were joined by every Democrat.

“I appreciate the show of confidence from my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort,” Mr. Johnson told reporters shortly after Wednesday’s vote. “As I’ve said from the beginning and I’ve made clear here every day, I intend to do my job. I intend to do what I believe to be the right thing, which is what I was elected to do, and I’ll let the chips fall where they may. In my view, that is leadership.”

“Hopefully,” he added, “this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress.”

The lopsided vote solidified the dynamic that has defined Mr. Johnson’s speakership, like Mr. McCarthy’s before him: Each time the Republican leader has been faced with a critical task, such as averting a government shutdown or a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt, he has relied on a bipartisan coalition of mainstream lawmakers to steer around far-right opposition and provide the votes to accomplish it.

The result has been the empowerment of Democrats at the expense of the hard right, the very phenomenon that Ms. Greene raged against as she rose on the House floor on Wednesday — drawing boos from some of her colleagues — to lay out a scathing case against Mr. Johnson and what she called the “uniparty” he empowered.

“Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from plunging the House of Representatives and the country into further chaos is rooted in our commitment to solve problems for everyday Americans in a bipartisan manner,” Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, told reporters shortly after the vote. “We will continue to govern in a reasonable, responsible and results-oriented fashion, and put people over politics all day and every day.”

Ms. Greene’s move to oust Mr. Johnson came roughly three weeks after the speaker pushed through a long-stalled $95 billion national security spending package to aid Israel, Ukraine and other American allies over the objections of Ms. Greene and other right-wing Republicans who staunchly opposed sending additional aid to Kyiv.

Lawmakers loudly jeered Ms. Greene as she called up the resolution and read it aloud. As she recited the measure, a screed that lasted more than 10 minutes, Republicans lined up on the House floor to shake Mr. Johnson’s hand and pat him on the back.

“Given a choice between advancing Republican priorities or allying with Democrats to preserve his own personal power, Johnson regularly chooses to ally himself with Democrats,” Ms. Greene said, reading from her resolution.

She concluded with the official call for his removal: “Now, therefore be it resolved that the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.”

It marked the second time in less than a year that Republicans have sought to depose their own speaker, coming about seven months after G.O.P. rebels succeeded, with Democratic support, in removing Mr. McCarthy.

Earlier in the week, Ms. Greene had seemed to hesitate over whether she would actually call the ouster vote. For two consecutive days, she met for hours with Mr. Johnson, flanked by her chief ally, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and floated a list of demands in exchange for not calling the vote.

Among the demands were cutting off all future U.S. aid to Ukraine, defunding the Justice Department and imposing a 1 percent across the board cut on all spending bills if lawmakers are unable to negotiate a deal to fund the government in September.

But Mr. Johnson had remained cool to their entreaties, and told reporters that he was not negotiating with Ms. Greene and Mr. Massie.

That put Ms. Greene, whose combative political brand is premised on her unrelenting appetite to fight with the establishment of her party, out on a limb. She had little choice but to call up a vote she knew would fail, but had been threatening for weeks. Even after Mr. Jeffries made it clear that Democrats would vote to block any ouster attempt, she was still determined to undermine Mr. Johnson publicly and force Democrats to bail him out.

“This is exactly what the American people needed to see,” she told reporters on the House steps after the vote. “I didn’t run for Congress to come up here and join the uniparty, and the uniparty was on full display today.”

“The Democrats now control Speaker Johnson,” she added.

Just 32 Democrats voted to allow Ms. Greene’s motion to move forward, while another seven voted “present,” registering no position.

Ms. Greene initially filed the motion against Mr. Johnson in late March, just as lawmakers were voting on a $1.2 trillion spending bill he pushed through the House over the opposition of the majority of Republicans. She called the move a “betrayal” and said she wanted to send the speaker a “warning,” then left the threat dangling for weeks.

Mr. Johnson plowed ahead anyway, putting together an aid package for Ukraine — a move Ms. Greene previously said was a red line that would prompt her to seek his ouster, but which did not lead her to immediately make good on her threat.

“I’m actually going to let my colleagues go home and hear from their constituents,” Ms. Greene said following the vote, predicting that Republicans would join her bid to get rid of Mr. Johnson after getting an earful from voters irate about the foreign aid bill. Instead, many of them heard just the opposite and returned to Washington voicing skepticism about removing Mr. Johnson.

If she had been successful on Wednesday, Ms. Greene would have prompted only the second vote on the House floor in more than 100 years on whether to oust the speaker. When Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida instigated Mr. McCarthy’s removal in October, such a spectacle had not been seen in the chamber since 1910.

But this time, Ms. Greene had a more difficult time finding support for removing the speaker. House Republicans were wary of throwing the chamber into another period of chaos like the one that paralyzed the House for weeks after Mr. McCarthy’s ouster, and have privately seethed about the public disarray Ms. Greene’s threat has sown.

Even ultraconservatives like Mr. Gaetz expressed uneasiness with firing another speaker, suggesting that the move risked handing over control of the House to Democrats given Republicans’ rapidly narrowing margin of control .

Former President Donald J. Trump also came to Mr. Johnson’s defense, urging Republicans on social media minutes after the vote to kill Ms. Greene’s effort, arguing that polling showed Republicans doing well in the November elections, and that a show of division would undermine the party.

“If we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything!” he wrote.

He called Mr. Johnson “a good man who is trying very hard,” but did not slam the door altogether on the idea of removing him.

“We’re not in a position” to do so now, with such a small Republican majority in the House, Mr. Trump wrote. “At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time.”

Catie Edmondson covers Congress for The Times. More about Catie Edmondson

Carl Hulse is the chief Washington correspondent, primarily writing about Congress and national political races and issues. He has nearly four decades of experience reporting in the nation’s capital. More about Carl Hulse

Kayla Guo covers Congress for The New York Times as the 2023-24 reporting fellow based in Washington. More about Kayla Guo

A Divided Congress: Latest News and Analysis

Marjorie Taylor Greene: The hard-right congresswoman from Georgia failed spectacularly in her bid to depose Speaker Mike Johnson. But for a figure who sees her power in creating chaos, the loss was the point .

Reauthorize FAA and Improve Air Travel: The Senate passed legislation to reauthorize federal aviation programs and put in place new safety measures and consumer protections, at a moment of intense uncertainty  and disruption in the air travel system.

Mike Johnson: The House speaker easily batted down an attempt  by Greene to oust him from his post, after Democrats linked arms with most Republicans  to block the motion.

Antisemitism Hearing: A Republican-led House committee turned its attention to three of the most politically liberal school districts  in the country, accusing them of tolerating antisemitism, but the district leaders pushed back forcefully .

Legalizing Marijuana: Senate Democrats reintroduced broad legislation to legalize cannabis on the federal level, a major policy shift with wide public support , but it is unlikely to be enacted this year ahead of November’s elections and in a divided government.