The Student Room Group

thinking too much about the future

I am only in year 11, but almost every time I am not doing anything, I start thinking about universities and a levels etc. at least twice a week I do university research or look on sites about them, and I'm always thinking about what to do to get into oxford etc. I feel like this is having a negative impact on my mental health as I am not living in the present. I also feel like I might be on tsr too much too. it's not even that I don't have things to do, I have sports clubs almost every day to distract me, but even when picking A levels I have spent so much time discussing them etc. I know that it is good to think ahead but not to this extent. does anyone have any tips?

Reply 1

Hi there,

I think it is fantastic that you are thinking about the future; it shows that you care about your next steps and where you will end up in the future. However, I agree with your conclusion that your current habits aren't healthy, i.e. almost obsessing over A levels and university. You are only in Year 11, so I suggest that you take a step back and focus on your GCSEs. As you said, perhaps excessive use of TSR has been exacerbating your anxiety and worries about the future. It is good that you have some form of distraction (sports), keep on doing this! I assume you are quite academically minded, so it can often be hard to distract yourself from, well, academics, but as long as you have some form of distraction or leisure time, it should help you stay away from worrying too much. All I can say is try to live in the present, because A Levels and university aren't going anywhere just yet!

Reply 2

Original post by Roejo
Hi there,
I think it is fantastic that you are thinking about the future; it shows that you care about your next steps and where you will end up in the future. However, I agree with your conclusion that your current habits aren't healthy, i.e. almost obsessing over A levels and university. You are only in Year 11, so I suggest that you take a step back and focus on your GCSEs. As you said, perhaps excessive use of TSR has been exacerbating your anxiety and worries about the future. It is good that you have some form of distraction (sports), keep on doing this! I assume you are quite academically minded, so it can often be hard to distract yourself from, well, academics, but as long as you have some form of distraction or leisure time, it should help you stay away from worrying too much. All I can say is try to live in the present, because A Levels and university aren't going anywhere just yet!


do you know how to force myself to stop thinking so much? recently I've tried catching myself and stopping, but a lot of the time my thoughts drift back- do you know any techniques against this?

Reply 3

Original post by Anonymous
I am only in year 11, but almost every time I am not doing anything, I start thinking about universities and a levels etc. at least twice a week I do university research or look on sites about them, and I'm always thinking about what to do to get into oxford etc. I feel like this is having a negative impact on my mental health as I am not living in the present. I also feel like I might be on tsr too much too. it's not even that I don't have things to do, I have sports clubs almost every day to distract me, but even when picking A levels I have spent so much time discussing them etc. I know that it is good to think ahead but not to this extent. does anyone have any tips?

Hiya. I think the thing to find out is what is making you focus on this? Do you feel out of control in other areas of your life and uni is something you can control? Has it just become habit and now you keep doing it? Don't beat yourself up over this, it's a good thing to be interested! But maybe see where the itch to do it is coming from :smile:

Reply 4

Original post by Yipiyap_Brooke
Hiya. I think the thing to find out is what is making you focus on this? Do you feel out of control in other areas of your life and uni is something you can control? Has it just become habit and now you keep doing it? Don't beat yourself up over this, it's a good thing to be interested! But maybe see where the itch to do it is coming from :smile:

Hi, I think that maybe I just did not have that much to do at that time- currently I'm doing gcses and really I barely think so much about uni. I think that it might just have been habit- but now it's much better because I have something else to think about.

Reply 5

Original post by Anonymous
I am only in year 11, but almost every time I am not doing anything, I start thinking about universities and a levels etc. at least twice a week I do university research or look on sites about them, and I'm always thinking about what to do to get into oxford etc. I feel like this is having a negative impact on my mental health as I am not living in the present. I also feel like I might be on tsr too much too. it's not even that I don't have things to do, I have sports clubs almost every day to distract me, but even when picking A levels I have spent so much time discussing them etc. I know that it is good to think ahead but not to this extent. does anyone have any tips?

Take care of yourself first, feel better. Relax.

Easier said than done, try not to get stressed out and you can only try your best.

Maybe meditation.

Reply 6

Original post by Analyst89
Take care of yourself first, feel better. Relax.
Easier said than done, try not to get stressed out and you can only try your best.
Maybe meditation.

thank you, I'll try that

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