Finals week is coming up and you know what that means—it’s time to re-watch The Office for the tenth time. Or, and hear me out, we don’t distract ourselves with the best television show ever made and instead distract ourselves with some creative hobbies. We’re talking “creative procrastination,” or what psychologists would call “active rest.” Your brain is a muscle. Just like marathon trainers do, take “days off” to lift weights or take two hour hot yoga class—your mind needs a break as well. Here are five ways to creatively procrastinate as told by The Office.
1. Paint
You could paint an entire mural or maybe just doodle throughout your notebooks. Either way, coloring, painting and drawing are great ways to give your mind the rest it needs.
2. Journal or write
Write down everything that comes to mind or try out some of that Instagram-worthy typography for your favorite song lyrics. Or write down a list of everyone who has wronged you, then make a list of everything you are grateful for. Balance is important.
3. Play an instrument
You don’t even have to know how! Ask your neighbor to play their drum set you hear so often and play Angela’s favorite, “Little Drummer Boy.” Or you could borrow your best friend’s roommate’s keyboard for an afternoon. Also, you could start a cover band, or just sing some classic tunes. You could also try singing a tearful rendition of Rent’s “Season of Love” to your boss.
4. Dance
Dancing is a form of exercise. “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.” You could make up your own choreographed routine, do the “Scarn” or look up instructional videos via YouTube.
5. Make a movie
Nothing puts all of your creative talents to work quite like acting in, directing and producing your own homemade video. By the time it takes to write a script, film and edit your film you could have learned a semester’s worth of knowledge and be set for your final. But why take the easy way out? The amount of nonsense one can accomplish while procrastinating is limitless.
Some other suggestions that didn’t make the cut: edit and splice together old presidential speeches into popular songs, learn a hula hoop routine, sew some old clothes together a la Harper from Wizards of Waverly Place, try out some new recipes, start a dog walking service, make bracelets to sell on Etsy, do a photo shoot with all the murals in your town, practice impressions of your friends to impress them at later parties, write an article for your local chapter of Her Campus, consider a new instagram theme, try out makeup tutorials or shave your head in fun patterns.
The procrastination is endless. Good luck!