What a lot of people don’t know is that procrastination is an art, and finals is the best time to perfect it. There are so many irrelevant tasks to be done! What is going to be more helpful in the long run? Your GB 410 final grade or the playlist that you made to study to? (Obviously the playlist, who are we kidding?)
1. Make a playlist
Everything in life needs a playlist. Car ride? Playlist. Gym? Playlist. Walking to class? Playlist. Going to bed? Playlist. Showering? Playlist. It only makes sense that you need the PERFECT playlist to study to, because how are you going to stay motivated and focused without the perfect Justin Bieber to Ellie Goulding ratio? Nobody can expect you to do well if you have to study in silence, that’s basically torture.
2. Go to the gym
I mean you were totally meaning to anyways, so it only makes sense that you go now. Sweat out all that stress and make sure to stretch it out too, you wouldn’t want to get a cramp in the middle of your exam!
3. Clean
Getting sick is the worst thing in the entire world, especially when you’re in the middle of a silent room and you have to hold in your cough and try not to be THAT person. So, obviously you need to Clorox everything in your room. Everything needs to be clean if you want to be your healthiest for all your upcoming exams!
4. Catch up on your Netflix/Hulu queue and add a few new shows along the way
You’ve already made a playlist, gone to the gym AND cleaned. You need a break, Netflix is the way to go. You have such a long queue line you need to clean that out too; the weight of all those shows to watch will be distracting when you are trying to study later! Oh and if you’re all caught up then there are a ton of new shows you really need to watch to understand what your friends are referencing, the FOMO (fear of missing out) is real. If you need some suggestions: Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Grey’s Anatomy, Empire, Brooklyn 99 and Scream Queens are a few of my favorites.
5. Try some new restaurants, even if they are in the middle of Boston and take 45 minutes to get to with an hour and a half wait.
Food is always a priority, and being in so close to Boston there are so many good options to try for new food. Does it really matter that it takes over an hour to get to Mike’s Pastries? When you’ve done so much already really you deserve that cannoli. Yes it is a long way to go but it is worth it, I mean you have to eat and you need real nourishment to be able to study to your fullest potential (sorry Seasons).
6. Procrastinate in groups!!
Everything is more fun in groups! This includes procrastinating, get together and say that you are going to “study” and then just spend the entire time venting about how much work you have to do. Its super effective and fun! Plus then with all the other people there it helps to waste as much time as possible.
7. Cry
Its finals. Nobody will judge you.
8. Get so stressed you need to nap
Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to ignore it, plus if you’ve been keeping up with my growing list then you’ve got to be exhausted with all of these activities, you totally deserve a nap. Listen to your ‘going to bed’ playlist and sleep until you’re fully rested enough to study (synonymous with procrastinating even more).
9. Make all the food on your Pinterest Boards
So about that food board that you thought you would never make anything from? Well now you can, maybe they won’t look as nice as the photos that were posted but I’m sure they will taste as great, plus you get a snack out of it… who doesn’t love eating?
10. Watch animal videos
It’s an abyss you won’t come back from. Personally I love videos of baby goats, although puppies will get the job done. A few of my favorite goat videos are this one, this one and this one. Puppies like these are cute too. I’ve given you a starting place, now all you have to do is click on “relevant videos” and you’ll be watching meaningless YouTube videos until your battery dies.
11. Up your snapchat game
Try to get a streak with ALL of your snapchat friends. Seeing other people not studying will make you feel better about not studying either, its science I promise. You can even watch all of the ‘Discovery’ videos that nobody looks at. Maybe looking at the food network one will make you hungry enough to try a new Pinterest recipe (see how this makes a circle? Yeah no way you’re ever going to study after reading this list).
12. Go on all social media
There has never been a better invention for procrastination then social media, you get to look at random videos and posts for hours and then when you’re done stalking everyone then you have to wait only 15 minutes until people have posted more stuff for you to look at! Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram are the best options. Pinterest is really a place that you can disappear into for hours. Do I need to plan my entire wedding now? Yes. Do I need to make a board just about food that I will never make? Even more so.
13. Clean all your social media
Eventually employers are going to stalk you on social media and so why not make sure that the photo of you from your first frat party freshman year isn’t the first thing they see? It’s present me looking out for future me, I’m doing myself a favor. Also if anybody else posts as much as I do you know this is going to take a while.
14. Make a list of everything that you need to do
OK now it’s time to face the facts, you have stuff to do. You need a list of everything that you need to do, plan out your entire life. From going to the gym to sleeping to possibly fitting in a little Calc 2 studying after you do all your laundry, I’m sure you’ll be able to fit it on one sheet. As you finish stuff being able to cross it off (even if it is just ‘got to bed’) will feel so great. If you put on ‘make a list of all the stuff I have to do’ on it then you’ve already got one thing done. Go you, time for a break!
15. Online shop
The holidays are coming up, and you’ve been doing all this studying so you deserve a gift on top of all the other gifts that you will need to get your friends and family. Online shopping is perfect because everyone will see you avidly typing away at your computer, thinking “wow look at her go, studying so avidly, she totally has her life together” but really you’re just trying to type in your shipping address before someone else buys the last beanie.
16. Write an article for HerCampus
I’m supposed to be studying right now but instead I realized that I needed to share my wisdom with all of you, so really I was helping the greater population… Right?
All you really need in all honesty is a positive attitude: be like Lil’ Wayne when you’re walking out of that exam: