I have spent the last three and a half years of college trying to find a way to stay productive. College life gets busy and it becomes incredibly difficult to stay up to date on both assignments and keep yourself thriving. On a heavy school week, I can get through all my assignments, but by the end of the week, my room is a disaster zone that could legally be called a fire hazard. Recently, I found the method that works for me to prevent this catastrophe.
I know that it is absolutely unrealistic to expect your room to be clean all the time, but just setting aside some time to do all of the household tasks in one day helps a lot. My method involves rolling the dice. Literally.
I’ll make a numbered list of small tasks that I have to do, breaking up bigger tasks so that the list isn’t overwhelming. Then, you roll the dice. It’s that simple. Whatever number the dice rolls, is the task you must complete at that moment. The best way for this to work is if you don’t argue with the dice. The dice are gods. Instead of having to decide to do a task all on your own, the roll of the dice puts the decisions in the hands of the universe.
I use a twenty-sided dice to maximize the amount of options available and make the tasks as small as possible. However, this works with whatever dice you may have on hand or random number generators online. Little household chores became so much easier once I split them up into manageable pieces that takes the decision-making out of my hands and puts them into the dice gods’ hands.
This idea can also extend to other areas of indecision in your life. For instance, there is a Tiktok series called “Roll for Sandwich” in which the creator rolls the dice on what goes onto his sandwich. In that series, a lot of bad sandwiches are made, but that’s part of the entertainment. If you can’t decide what to have for dinner, write down the options on a numbered list and choose whatever number gets rolled.
This technique has truly cut out moments of indecision from my life just by having a completely neutral party making my decisions for me. The answer to the question “How can I possibly keep up with schoolwork and the disaster site of my room?” is dice.