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four problem sheets behind after a week of shifts, class on monday.. Marcus at his kitchen table on a Sunday night, still in his plain work fleece, four blank problem sheets fanned out in front of him, pencil untouched, head in his hands.
i meant to start at eight. it was half ten.. "one more video, then the sheets.". Marcus slumped back on the sofa, phone in his hand with its back to us, the sheets slid off the cushion onto the floor.
NoCrast put the apps that eat my evenings on hold.. Marcus sits forward on the edge of the sofa and holds his phone out to us, picking the apps that keep eating his evenings.
then it broke four sheets into questions i could start.. Back at the kitchen table, Marcus types what he is behind on while the koala sits on the arm of his reading lamp, watching the phone with him.
three questions at a time, until there were none left.. "oh. that was actually fine.". Reading lamp on: Marcus works with his pencil at the kitchen table, sheet one finished and sheet two half solved, his phone face down by the mug. The koala sits on the small pile of finished sheets.
Monday evening in a bright classroom at the training centre, Marcus hands his four completed sheets to the instructor and drops into a seat, relaxed.
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How I caught up on four problem sheets after a week of shifts

NoCrast Team
#Stories
Four problem sheets behind and class on Monday. A comic story about working shifts, studying at night, and catching up three questions at a time.

A NoCrast comic story: Marcus, who works shifts and studies at night, and the four problem sheets he fell behind on.

After a week of shifts, I was four problem sheets behind. Class was on Monday.

On Sunday night I sat at the kitchen table, still in my work fleece, with four blank sheets fanned out in front of me. I didn't pick up the pencil. I just put my head in my hands.

I meant to start at eight. Then it was half ten. I was on the sofa telling myself "one more video, then the sheets," and the sheets had slid off the cushion onto the floor.

So I sat forward and opened NoCrast. I picked the apps that keep eating my evenings, and NoCrast put them on hold. Back at the table, I typed in what I was behind on. It broke four sheets into questions I could start.

Then I did three questions at a time, phone face down by my mug, until there were none left. Sheet one done. Sheet two half solved. Somewhere in there I thought: oh. That was actually fine.

On Monday evening I handed all four sheets to my instructor and dropped into my seat. The videos waited their turn.

How to catch up on problem sheets when you're behind

  1. Count what's left. Write down each sheet and the questions on it. "Four sheets behind" feels like a wall. A list of questions is just a list, and you can work through a list.

  2. Make the first step tiny. "Do sheet one" is too big to start. "Read question one and write down what it asks" is small enough. NoCrast's AI can do this for you: describe the goal in your own words and it breaks it into small, doable tasks. A notebook and five honest minutes work too.

  3. Take the phone out of the evening. The phone is usually the problem, not you. Put it face down, or in another room. If that isn't enough, NoCrast keeps the apps you pick on hold until your tasks are done, and every step you finish earns screen time on them.

  4. Work in small batches. Pick three questions. Finish them. Then pick the next three. It's easier to start a batch when you can see where it ends. If one question stops you, mark it, move on, and bring it to class.

  5. Keep the finished pile where you can see it. Stack the sheets you've done next to you. It shows you the list is getting shorter, even on a slow night.

  6. Let the scrolling come after, not instead. You don't have to give up your videos. Watch them after a batch, not before you start. If you don't finish tonight, write down the next question so tomorrow starts there.

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