So, yes, maybe there are only (I say this while cringing) 20,000 or so words separating me from finishing my degree, but that hasn’t stopped me from being actively unnactive in this process. Or rather, the notion of actually graduating is really starting to kick in now and I’m trying to prolong the process for as long as I can. Here are just some of the many procrastination techniques I’ve picked up from this month alone.
1) Baking
I’ve never particularly enjoyed baking before. I tended to find that the process to getting to the final product was tedious and took too much time when I could just buy a pack of bourbons at the corner shop. And yet, after watching an episode of the Stand Up to Cancer: Great British Bake Off in which Russell Brand can (sort of) bake at 11pm and a hankering for biscuits kicked in, I thought – why not try? The amount of time baking entails makes me feel like I’m actually being productive in something (which is a nice change) and the process has since become a little less tiresome and a lot more therapeutic.
2) Netflix
I’m really late to the game with Netflix. I’ve avoided joining the streaming site throughout my undergrad hoping that I wouldn’t be suckered in. And, of course, just shy of a month away from the biggest deadline I’ll face for quite a while, I am 100% suckered in. In the last month alone I’ve caught up on recent Netflix greats such as The Umbrella Academy and Sex Education.
3) Knitting
This probably builds off the whole baking shtick thing I’ve got going on right now. This too, stemmed from watching TV in bed at around 2am – The Great British Sewing Bee anyone? (Trust me, it’s a lot more interesting than it sounds, and Joe Lycett is a babe). It’s not quite the transformative powers of the sewing machine that I dream of harnessing eventually but it’s definitely an outlet of my (limited) creative energies. Although, I’ll be honest and say the knitting still has a very long way to go.
4) Trying to figure out Brexit
This is an ongoing headache. Still couldn’t tell you exactly what’s happening, but there we go. At the time I’m writing, PM Theresa May has officially secured a short delay to Brexit beyond 29th March and the online petition calling to revoke Article 50 and to remain in the European Union on the Parliament website has peaked over 3.7 million signatures. The waiting game continues to see what steps the government takes next. You can read up our latest article on the ‘Brextension’ here.
5) Sleeping
An oldie but a goodie. What is a sleep pattern anymore? Sleep has become less of a pattern and more of a way to skip through hours of productivity, but hey, at least I’m feeling more refreshed to do all the aforementioned things above, right? Right? Someone?
All in all, please remember that while procrastination can be fun in the moment, there are times in which we must prioritise our more boring activities like revision and dissertation writing. While I wholly suggest that you find something that you enjoy doing as an outlet for your stress during the upcoming exam and deadline season, please remember to study too! (And I’ll try to take my own advice too!)