[brutalmusic]

Hi, all!

I'm a college senior with a dual major in math and sociology. Every semester, I meticulously prioritize my assignments, required readings, pre-class readings, optional readings, and so on. I start out running, spending every spare moment doing anything I can think of to prepare for my classes.

My friends laugh at me because I read books when they would have just skimmed them. I read my math texts before I attend the lecture for that section. I review and condense my notes. I attend every session of every class, even if I know that the class lecture is less valuable than the study time I would gain by skipping it. (After all, I'll have plenty of time to study after the class.) I review old math classes in preparation for the GREs. And of course, I do all assigned homework and prepare for tests.

I keep up this superstudent routine for maybe two months each semester. I neglect friends, errands, housework, and downtime. By the time other students start bothering to study for finals, I'm so burnt out that I can barely keep going.

When finals begin looming, I often find I have already earned enough points to skip the final in some classes, so I can neglect them in favor for others. For the remaining classes, I do only the strictly required assignments, which makes it difficult to absorb the material toward the end of each class. I end up taking finals that emphasize material I haven't quite mastered because I exhausted all my energy overlearning the things from the beginning of the course.

I want to excel, but I know that I'm failing to cut away unnecessary tasks. I just keep working as long as I can think of anything that might help toward future lessons. And I can always think of something that might help.

How do I find some balance between my schoolwork and the rest of my life? Where (in terms as concrete as possible so that my perfectionist mindset will accept them as goals worth achieving) is the "You've done enough for now" line?

Thanks so much!
Danielle