I don't always complete (or even start) the work I set myself

[JR_StudyEd]

I never know if I'm studying enough (or too much) per night. I do know that frequent breaks within sessions of 'study' are imperative in order for it to be effective. Before I begin my mission of smashing through my work, I plan out my tasks as specifically as I can, and try as hard as I can to do them in descending order of overall importance. Sometimes (oftentimes) I don't get all of it done. I do feel guilty that not all the work I've set for one night has been done because I have 100% certainty that the work will continue to pile up in the coming days. I'm guessing there isn't a hard and fast rule about exactly when I should call it quits and move on to another non-academic part of my life (without feeling apprehensive), but has anyone got any little nugget of insight into this?

[AngelWings]

has anyone got any little nugget of insight into this?

This happened more often than not throughout my studies across VCE and uni, so I know what you're going through. From my own experiences, I've tried four main ways (or, at least, this is what I can think of off the top of my head) to combat this issue:

4 different study methods

1. If you can, dial it down: Not always an option, but sometimes you can lessen the load by simply deleting the unnecessary activities off your list. In the same way that Marie Kondo tells you to declutter your physical belongings by asking if something is super important (or, at least, make you happy *ahem* "spark joy"), you might be able to minimise unimportant tasks by simply not putting extraneous tasks on your to-do list. (As I mentioned, this doesn't always work in some contexts.)

2. Pomodoro technique: Check this one up if you're not already familiar with it. It breaks study (or work in general) down to short bursts e.g. 30 minutes of concentrated study and then taking a quick 5 minute break. Some iterations also include building these study and break sessions up to longer and longer lengths, often something like 45 minutes of concentration and 15 minutes off to chill per hour. (Totally optional part: Personally, if I had any stray thoughts during these intensive study sessions, I had a sheet of paper to jot down what the thought was and get back to studying immediately afterwards. I'd delve into the sheet of thoughts during the breaks.)

3. Blocking out time: This is the method I wound up being most comfortable with*, so I might be quite biased here. I usually block as much free time as possible to "study" and attempt to do as much as is reasonable within each block. Within this block, I'll wind up accidentally procrastinating or getting pulled away by distractions, errands and so forth, but will push myself back to study as soon as I realise or am next free to do so. If I feel I've been working for too long or something, then I'll stop and take a break e.g. grab a glass of water, stretch, bathroom break, eat, do something fun. During those breaks, I try to shut my mind off to take a mental break as well or I'll figure what needs to be done next. This means it's absolutely flexible for you to do whatever you need and you'll be taking the mental breaks that you need. I often found in these longer blocks, I'd habitually take breaks after I'd done an activity or hit mini pit stops I made for myself e.g. "After I finish Question 3 from Exercise 6A, I'll take a breather and take a short walk." (Only difficulty in this method is discipline. You need a lot of discipline to tell yourself to study or take a break. Additionally, you'll need to take more nights off than usual with this method, since you'll be slowly chipping away at the work over longer periods of time on all the days you're studying**.)

4. Overestimating your estimations: What I mean by this is that instead of having just a to-do list, sometimes I'd add an "estimated time for completion" (i.e. how long I think it'll take for me to finish X task). My estimations used to be waaaay off and I'd almost always underestimate the amount of time I believed I needed to finish anything. Solution? Either multiply the time by 1.5, 2 or whatever factor seems to work for you. This gives you a rough idea (and often extra time) to complete existing or important tasks. If you then figure out how long you get to study, you can figure how much you'll actually get done today. Add in short breaks in between tasks and voila, you have a single day all planned out (kind of like making a study timetable for that single day). Set up tomorrow's timetable just before you finish for the evening and you have yourself a study routine that'll be flexible to whatever you need to get done. (This method won't necessarily mean more gets done, but at least you'll have slightly more realistic calculations as to what time you'll finish and how much study you'll get done.)

* This also worked when I studied at uni full-time and had two part-time jobs.
** Actually, with any method, I'd recommend that you take at least one night off each week or make it so you expect yourself to get very little done, if desperate. (Tangent: I also had random days off when I absolutely couldn't concentrate and was a bit freer.)

Hopefully that answers the question you posed (I feel as if I got quite off-topic. Sorry! ), but I would try to not lambaste yourself over things like this. There will be nights that not everything gets done or you'll underestimate the workload and there will be days that you simply can't study because something comes up out of the blue. In those scenarios, it might be best to try adapt and/or use last resort methods, but, of course, try not to make it a common occurrence.

[JR_StudyEd]

Something new just popped up my brain regarding this. My Year 12 teachers have been like 'gotta prepare you for uni', and so have mostly neglected to set homework. I'm left to basically spend a bit of time contemplating what to do, which slows my progress down. I'm the kind of person who wants to ride the academic momentum from school and transfer it to my studying.

Yeah, so it's about doing what's most important, since required tasks are essentially non-existent outside of formal assessments. I know I can't do absolutely everything, but is there anything I can do to make the set work less overwhelming?

Also, I suck at studying on non-school days. Just thinking about having to study makes me wince and moan in pain (maybe slightly exaggerated, but it doesn't fill me with joy). How can I make studying not-so-laborious on weekends and those kinds of days where there are unfortunately no classes?

[Owlbird83]

Something new just popped up my brain regarding this. My Year 12 teachers have been like 'gotta prepare you for uni', and so have mostly neglected to set homework. I'm left to basically spend a bit of time contemplating what to do, which slows my progress down. I'm the kind of person who wants to ride the academic momentum from school and transfer it to my studying.

Yeah, so it's about doing what's most important, since required tasks are essentially non-existent outside of formal assessments. I know I can't do absolutely everything, but is there anything I can do to make the set work less overwhelming?

Also, I suck at studying on non-school days. Just thinking about having to study makes me wince and moan in pain (maybe slightly exaggerated, but it doesn't fill me with joy). How can I make studying not-so-laborious on weekends and those kinds of days where there are unfortunately no classes?

I sort of feel the same, it's bad but this year I feel less motivated than year 11 and year 10 ,and I am procrastinating more. I now find it hard to study at the dining table and my desk like I used to. So sometimes I go down stairs to a room that is quite empty and I study in there (on a closed organ). I think it's easier to study there because it is not cluttered and has no distractions and I haven't gotten into the habit of procrastinating or going on atarnotes or facebook there. I also have decided to go to the library more. It helps a lot in my opinion I am more motivated because there are also tonnes of other VCE students there studying. Also when I am at the library I can't get up randomly and walk to the fridge. And even though no one is watching me, I still feel like I have to keep studying and not start getting lost in stuff on the internet, because people around me will see me not studying.
Short annecdote: I was at the library studying once and I felt very unmotivated and had texted my mum to come pick me up, but then a girl sitting opposite me doing methods asked me for help with a question, and so I helped her and I don't know why but it made me so happy and motivated, so I ended up staying longer at the library and studying.
Some cons of the library though are that it can get quite noisy sometimes, especially if there is a 'study group' of students near you who are having a loud chat.
Also, at my school students can stay after school in a study space which is practically silent, so that is very useful.

But I totally reccommend the library because there's no where to run (from your work). 

[JR_StudyEd]

There will be nights that not everything gets done or you'll underestimate the workload and there will be days that you simply can't study because something comes up out of the blue. In those scenarios, it might be best to try adapt and/or use last resort methods, but, of course, try not to make it a common occurrence.

What are these 'last resort' methods? Other than well, you know, not doing the work at all.

[AngelWings]

What are these 'last resort' methods? Other than well, you know, not doing the work at all.

Doing study at the last minute and staying up late to finish it, even into the early hours of the morning on particularly busy periods, or sometimes cutting out all the unimportant stuff. Not recommended as you can see, but it needed to be mentioned.

[K888]

Something new just popped up my brain regarding this. My Year 12 teachers have been like 'gotta prepare you for uni', and so have mostly neglected to set homework. I'm left to basically spend a bit of time contemplating what to do, which slows my progress down. I'm the kind of person who wants to ride the academic momentum from school and transfer it to my studying.

Yeah, so it's about doing what's most important, since required tasks are essentially non-existent outside of formal assessments. I know I can't do absolutely everything, but is there anything I can do to make the set work less overwhelming?

Also, I suck at studying on non-school days. Just thinking about having to study makes me wince and moan in pain (maybe slightly exaggerated, but it doesn't fill me with joy). How can I make studying not-so-laborious on weekends and those kinds of days where there are unfortunately no classes?

I'm in my 3rd year of uni and still not properly comfortable being fully independent in directing my study! It's a really common thing that I think almost everyone struggles with. Being fully responsible for what you do is empowering, but also a bit terrifying haha.

If you're trying to prioritise study that isn't for assessments, I'd say reflect on what you've done that day/week at school and ask yourself what the key things were that you did in each lesson and what you want to take away from them. If you've got a syllabus/study guide/learning objectives, use that as well. Maybe also try and write down something you think you did well in class (i.e. understanding a concept, etc.) and something you need to work on (perhaps you made mistakes on one sort of question, or there was something you didn't understand, etc.) to help figure out what you do and don't need to do.

Re: studying on non-school days. I was awful at this in HS and am still pretty bad at it in uni! For me, it's about changing my environment. I might go to the library, go to my boyfriend's place or something similar. You can also try staying back at school a bit later on school days (or coming earlier) to do your set work or things you want to do so that you don't really have to do much on weekends (I did this in HS) - there's no rule that says you have to study every single day of the week (and I think it would be unwise if you did!), you can always save weekends for leisure and catching up with friends.

Kind of off on a tangent, but I think working on self-talk is also a really important thing. You said you feel guilty when you don't complete all your tasks. When you get that thought, try and balance it out with something positive - so you have the "there's so much I didn't get done" thought counter-balanced by the "yeah, but I achieved a solid base and got the key things finished" thought. Being kind to yourself is such a massive thing - not just in school but throughout life