How do I stop making stupid mistakes in math? Could it be a sign

Things to consider:

Are you getting at-least eight hours of sleep per night?
Could you benefit from an improvement in organization (as far as writing out math, etc.)?
Do you exercise?


But most important
Why do you care so much about your grade? A B is excellent as far as i'm concerned. I never even made it to pre-calculus in college. When you put that extra amount of pressure on yourself to succeed, it will stress you out and cause more harm than good.


God blss

>>18213654
>Are you getting at-least eight hours of sleep per night?
Yes. I'm actually pretty sensitive to lack of sleep. Though, the questions my teacher gives us for a grade are done after an hour and 40 minute boring as hell class. That may have an effect.
>Could you benefit from an improvement in organization (as far as writing out math, etc.)?
Marginally. I also have shitty handwriting, always had.
>Do you exercise?
Nope. Though I do move around a lot in between classes.

>Why do you care so much about your grade?
For one, I'm a math major intending on going to grad school for astrophysics. I'm shooting for at least a 3.5 GPA. A single B would hurt a bit and I'd like to avoid it.
Second, I've never struggled with math, ever. Even now, I don't struggle with the concepts. I feel like my grade doesn't represent how well I actually know the material and it's really frustrating.

>Could it be a sign of a mental issue?
lol no

You're making dumb mistakes because ur cocky kid. How many times do you check your answers? The answer should be "repeatedly until time is up". I'm just like you, great at math but make a hundred mistakes a test. It took me a long time to figure out that I needed to really check my work. Don't just skim over your work, actually do entire problems over again.

Are you sure you actually know how to do them and aren't just handwaving after the fact? There is a huge difference between having to know how to do a problem, and then seeing the answer and knowing how it's done.

But mostly what you need to do is practice more. The more you practice the less careless mistakes you will make, and the better you will get at finding them as you review.

>>18213705
A single one of the problems can take up to 10 minutes. We usually get three, 10 minutes before class ends. Bonus is that we virtually have unlimited time to do them, but carpool to school so I have at max 30 minutes to do them (usually).
I tried the redoing method, but it takes to much time and I end up making new mistakes that weren't there in the previous attempt. I try to just check as I go. Making sure I copy numbers correctly, making sure my math is correct, but I never catch them.
>Are you sure you actually know how to do them and aren't just handwaving after the fact? There is a huge difference between having to know how to do a problem, and then seeing the answer and knowing how it's done.
No, I'm sure I know how to calculate them. It's literally just a misplaced number here or there.
>But mostly what you need to do is practice more.
I've been trying, but it just keeps getting worse. I'm assuming it's an escalation of work due to harder math classes though.

>>Could it be a sign of a mental issue?
>lol no
By that, I meant some sort of attention issue, as I go on autopilot when I concentrate. Things just come and go through my head and I generally don't remember what I did or read.

>>18213770
While drugs like adderall will always make you more intentive, you most likely dont have add or adhd.
You are making mistakes because you dont have attention to detail.
>carpool to school
Are you saying you could do them at home but instead only do them when you are inconvenienced and at the last minute?
Rushing is always going to cause you to make mistakes.
The harder the problem then the more mistakes you make.
If you take a test and have the same issues where you dont have the time to check your work then you should think about switching majors.
Tldr: you dont develop mental issues over night in one specific class.

>>18213626
check your work my dude, you probably got complacent and thought you were some kind of math god and then stopped putting in the effort.

>>18213827
>Are you saying you could do them at home but instead only do them when you are inconvenienced and at the last minute?
I can ONLY do them during class, but the questions frequently take us over class. I have to leave at a certain time, so I can't just sit there and check every problem forever.
>Tldr: you dont develop mental issues over night in one specific class.
I've actually had a history with severe anxiety that kept me locked up inside my home for years before I went back to school.

>>18213845
Well now that you mention it, I think I'm just going to treat every problem as if I'm mentally retarded and can't do basic math and see if it helps. I definitely am a bit overconfident in my math ability.

>>18213770

>some sort of attention issue
Don't beat around the bush my dude. You think you have ADHD. I bet you already put research into online and though to yourself "gee golly gosh I probably have adhd, that sure would explain the issues im having!!". But you need to feel validated by baiting people into suggesting you have it. That's dumb. Whether you have it or not you can get diagnosed with it VERY easily by a physician. If you think adderal will help you (because we both know you're not interested in actual therapy) then just go and get some.

The rest of your post sounds like excuses. Calc 2 is going to be the grindiest math course you take. You need to practice more. The more you practice the faster you are and the more you intuitively know when you've fucked up. That is how you learn to catch your mistakes.

>I've been trying
But have you tried studying more? Do you have the same issues at home?

>>18213931
Anxiety and attention disorders are not the same thing. You would have realized in high school if you had an attention disorder. Its an every day disorder that doesnt discriminate about the subject matter. You would have trouble focusing on things you find interesting just as much as you would have trouble focusing on things you enjoy. You would have trouble focusing on easy things just as much as hard things. Im talking about to the point where you need to seek help.

>>18213931
Take the problems home and do them at home. If you are still making those mistakes even though you have time to review your work then you have an issue. If you arent then you need to talk to your professor about your issues and see if he can work with your time constraints. Adderall doesnt make you smarter or increase your attention to detail. You wont want to switch subjects once you start but you wont be any better at catching mistakes. Adderall is meant to help you do a repetitive task for hours at a time. Thats why business men and college students take adderall to get ahead.
>>18213937
This dude is on the money. If you want adderall then its easy as shit to get. Just keep in mind that you will need to lie a little in order to get the meds. If you go in there and say you have trouble focusing on math then they will know you dont need the meds. If you say you have trouble focusing in all your classes then you are golden.