Really behind college work, unsure on how to recover

I’m really behind on all of my college work to the point where I’m basically on the route of failing all of my classes. It began with one class and its assignments, but now it’s to the point where any association with school makes me anxious. Now, along with my missing assignments and essays, I’m purposely missing classes because I’m afraid of confronting my teacher and classmates.

I recognize this cycle was because of my perfectionism procrastination loop, along with my anxiety avoidance behavior. I also already set up a counselor appointment; however, the appointment is next month, and I’m unsure how I’m going to survive until then. Due to awkward circumstances from last quarter, I feel uncomfortable sharing my academic struggles with my family and friends. And while I made an appointment with my academic counselor, making the appointment was an accident on my part, and I'm unsure on what to say to them. I'm actually debating on whether I should cancel the appointment or not, but then, I'm also not sure.

I have been struggling with this for a while, so any advice or encouragement on this matter would be appreciated.

Hi there! I'm currently a college student, graduating this May. Here are a couple things that have helped me when I'm behind on school work and need to get things done:

1. Talk to my professors. This can be scary, but professors want their students to succeed. Having an open and honest conversation about what is going on will show that you care about your success. I've received deadline extensions before which can be very helpful.

2. Alternate between doing some work, then doing something fun. For me, it's usually video games. Pick a time chunk that works for you: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, whatever. I'll do that amount of school work, then spend the same amount of time playing my video game. It helps me to not feel so bogged down in school work and still allows me to get things done.

3. This is my third time trying post-secondary school. I left after a year my first time due to mental health issues, then tried university and realized the program wasn't right for me. I took a 5 year break and then came back to my original college program to finish. I am not saying this is necessarily the case for you, but I wanted to say that there is no shame in recognizing that, hey, maybe this isn't the best time for me to be in school right now.

Wishing you all the best in your studies!

Thank you for replying! As for your advice, I'm unsure on how I'm going to talk to my professor (since I feel that it's too far for me), but I suppose the first step would be talking to my academic counselor about it. As for your second tip, I'm going to try to do what you suggested today with my work since it takes off a lot of pressure. And then, for your third tip, I think I might be considering to suggest that to my family since the last two quarters were rough.

But again thank you so much for the advice! I'm wishing you all the best with your studies as well!

Sometimes an academic counselor will be willing to help you meet with your professor.

Begin with succeeding at smaller goals. Achieving the small goals will build confidence and the discipline to achieve your larger goals.

I place unnecessary demands on myself. I have to make them realistic demands.

Temporarily, it is extremely uncomfortable. In the end, it is worth it.

I would say make small goals for yourself. They don't need to be giant goals, and although your goal might be "turn the whole semester around," that's not realistically going to happen in a few days. So make goals like, "I will just go to class today," or something like that. I don't know if that seems too hard to do. But you get my point. If I were in your shoes I'd make small goals like that. Or they don't even necessarily have to be school-related goals, they could be goals like, "I will exercise today" or whatever you do to benefit your mental health. I would say that through a lot of small actions you can eventually persevere.