Question: What do you do when you can’t seem to focus? Which in turn limits your ability to successfully complete assignments? What do you do when nothing is wrong yet everything is wrong?

Although it is difficult to say exactly what is going on for you, it’s not hard to imagine this is very frustrating for learning and school work. It sounds frustrating enough to suggest something is off, even though you can’t point to something more specific. I guess the one good thing about feeling that something is not quite right is that the feeling can motivate us to figure it out and explore possible solutions.

With regard to focusing and assignments, there are many things that can create the difficulties and feelings you describe. Not only is the list of possible contributions long, there could be several related things going on. For example, poor sleep due to stress adds further stress and can interfere with your ability to focus. If this is something that is seriously interfering with your performance this semester, I would encourage you to come in to talk to a counsellor to help sort out what is going on. If it is something that is frustrating but you have some time to figure it out, I wonder about some strategies that might be worth trying. Here is a list of possibilities and some resources that might be worth exploring:

Poor quality of sleep: Try our ABZzzs of Sleep workshop where you can test your knowledge and then learn how to improve your sleep. For a good online resource see: http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/wellness-module/wellness-module-6-getting-a-good-nights-sleep

High stress: Attend a workshop on stress management; attend the consult hour with a counsellor on Mondays at 3 to ask about stress management strategies that suit you.

Pre-existing deficit in attention regulation that is becoming a problem in your current context: Check out http://blogs.mtroyal.ca/mknapik/ This is a site on ADHD in Post-Secondary. Although your reasons for having difficulty focusing might be different, you could learn more about attention regulation on this site, and there are some strategies for supporting your focusing that might be helpful.

Low motivation and depressed mood: Poor nutrition and other life style factors as well as health conditions such as thyroid conditions and depression, can interfere with focusing and the feeling you describe. You may wish to see your doctor for a medical consult to rule out these kinds of physiological causes.

Being in a program unsuited for your interest: The Career Passion Workshop might be just the thing that helps you to figure out how to go about finding a path more suited to you.

Study skills difficulties: Sometimes focusing is a problem because students are not sure where to begin with studying and assignments. Student Learning Services has many workshops that might improve your understanding of where to focus.

I hope that gives you a start. Thanks for asking your question here! I know you are not the only student who struggles with focusing and hopefully someone else will also benefit from your question.