Procrastinating is inevitably something that all of us will encounter during our time as college students, particularly during finals week. Sometimes having so much to do at once can make it difficult to know where to start. Also, no matter how caffeinated we might be, it’s nearly impossible to be productive for 12 hours straight during your all night cram-session at the ugli. If you need to relax, take a break, or just forget about all of the work you still need to complete; here are some tips to feel a little less guilty about procrastinating:
1. Call your parents or friends from home. Staying in touch is so important and can sometimes be put on the back burner when we are faced with issues that seem more relevant in the present time. You will thank yourself down the road for maintaining the relationships and friendships that played such important roles in your early life.
2. Exercise.
Some people may not think of this as procrastinating because it is an important part of staying healthy, but for others it is definitely easy to put staying in shape on the back burner when there is a time crunch to do school work and studying. Our bodies are only as kind to us as we are to them. Exercise is actually proven to improve mental functioning and learning, so taking a quick study break for a run may cause your studying to be more beneficial and productive.
3. Sleep. This is a much better option than watching tv or playing video games, because odds are that if you are unable to focus on doing any more school work and are resorting to electronic entertainment, this is a sign from your body that you are exhausted. Studies have shown that sleeping directly after studying can improve memory and retention of information. (And who doesn’t love a nap, amirite?)
4. Color.
Coloring is fun and you can pass off your creations for holiday gifts!! (#broke) But hey, it’s the effort that counts, right? (Also, if you don’t want to spend money on a coloring book, there are plenty of free pages to print online.)
5. Organize your room/backpack/car. This isn’t everyone’s ideal way to relax, but for some people there is something therapeutic about having everything in its place. At the very least you will feel as though part of your life is together even though you aren’t currently studying.
Images courtesy of: WebMD, Amazon, and Turbosquid.