I have a problem where my self esteem drives me and my actions. The good thing is that when I fail a test and my self esteem drops, I hate myself for not studying hard and I study extremely hard for the next test. Usually I do well on the next test from all the studying then suddenly I get confident. I suddenly drop my work ethic and I receive a low test score for the next test. The cycle repeats. I’m curious if anyone else has a similar situation. From my observation I’m the only one I know with such varying test scores. Of course my college’s policy of drop the 2 lowest scores is very beneficial for me 
I suspect there are a lot of students who engage in this pattern. Also many who do everything at the last minute when faced with deadlines. People in the workplace do that too. However, if you want to be more consistent in outcomes, you want to be less stressed, and you don’t want to have to count on the lowest grade being dropped to get the grade you want, then I think you already know what you need to do. Be more consistent, plan ahead, do your work as assigned and not at the last minute. Treat every assignment and test as ones that you need to do well on.
I agree that many students do the same thing. What helps me is to realize that nothing is ever guaranteed until the final grades are out. I’ve been in the situation a couple of times where I tell myself that I can skip a few classes or put off studying a particular subject. And then when final grades come out, I realize, if I had only put more effort at point X, I could have gotten a better grade.
Lol I’m the same way. I’ll do badly on a test and I kinda mope around like “What is wrong with me am I dumb should I just drop out” until my best friend cheers me up. Then I’m like “No I’m gonna change my life around” and I study my butt off for a time and get As on everything like it’s nothing. Then I feel “overworked” and stop studying hard and it starts all over. It’s prolly going to start again this coming Tuesday when I find out how badly I failed this test I didn’t study for…