As finals reaches its peak, are you finding yourself simultaneously self-wallowing in just how much work you have to do and stressing out to the point of ignoring that work? Yeah. Me too. We all have different speeds at which we complete our work, but I think it’s universally acknowledged that we’ve all procrastinated at some point in our lives.
So to let you know that you’re not alone, and that you can in fact do this — and do it well — here are some of the stages we all go through during the most wonderful time of the year.
1. Pointlessly online shopping. You know, when you don’t (or can’t) buy anything, but continue to load up your cart wishfully.
2. Getting back from your class and immediately climbing in bed, no matter what time of the day it is. It’s calling you. So warm … so cozy … so just snuggle right in.
3. Finding whatever food you have around and eating most or all of it. Plain Ritz crackers? Sure. Peanut butter? Yeah, I’ll have a spoon. Popcorn? Two bags, please.
4. Refreshing Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to see if anyone’s posted something since the last five minutes you checked. Someone else must be doing something more interesting than what you are (or aren’t), right?
5. Cleaning and reorganizing unnecessarily. This mood doesn’t come often, so you tell yourself you must take advantage of it when the time comes.
6. Watching Netflix high-key stressfully. Your eyes glaze over to the clock every so often, and you make small notes in your head about how much longer you really have until you need to buckle down.
7. Completing one assignment on your to-do list and telling yourself you definitely deserve a break. Well done.
8. Realizing that the deadline has actually arrived — so you GET DOWN TO BUSINESS.
9. Finally, at last, realizing that you’re done. You’re done. Kaput. Fin. Adieu. Now you just have to start thinking about writing those cover letters…
This season doesn’t last for long (I know, it’s too bad). And while the time itself is pretty awful and feels never-ending, relief is just around the corner. Know that you’re not alone in your struggle against your work, and embrace the fact that you are always in control and can do whatever you set your mind to.