In the midst of midterms and finals coming up, I wanted to share how I keep my cool throughout it all—while simultaneously screaming on the inside. I’m a huge procrastinator that will fight tooth and claw to turn everything in before 11:59 pm. I highly recommend not waiting till the last minute or the day before to start working on a six-page essay while attempting to study for a totally different class. I’m totally not talking about my current situation at the moment. When midterms or finals come up I think I have all the time in the world, but suddenly I’m in the middle of an extensive week desperately trying to keep up with all my classes. Last semester, when Taylor Swift’s album Midnights came out, it became the one consistent album that I would listen to while writing my essays. Belting out “Bejeweled” and searching for peer-reviewed articles became a helpful strategy to keep going. There was no in-between when writing big essays of what I would listen to, it would be Midnights (3 am Edition) or a collective playlist of movie score instrumentals ranging from Star Wars to Twilight.
If I’m on a tight schedule for the week and the days seem to be ending faster than they should I’ll put my phone on lockdown. I either hide it away or let my phone die. It’s out of sight and if I don’t have my charger near me, then my phone will be dead for a good while. Sometimes I’ll need a break from wearing my headphones for long periods of time so I turn the television on. Now I know this sounds like a distraction, but it helps if I choose a show I’ve seen a thousand times. It’ll be AMC’s The Walking Dead or New Girl, specifically season two. If I can’t decide on a show it’ll definitely be an 80s movie. Besides my penchant to have background noise, I give myself a goal, it’s usually either sleep or finally getting to eat that bagel I’ve been craving all day. I never said these were good goals that didn’t deteriorate my health, but nonetheless, this is what I’ve done before.
If I’m completely overstimulated by my environment and find that I can’t think properly, I’ll go to the library and find the perfect seat. By “perfect seat” I mean the seat I have meticulously picked out and chosen over and over again throughout the semester. I’ve always sat by the window and there’s no changing that. I don’t know if it works, but I do think that having direct sunlight helps me work better than being in the dark. The last thing I always have to keep myself going is a tall cup of coffee with oat milk. Whether I’m at home or at the library, I need a cup of coffee to keep the wheels turning in my mind. These are things I have picked up over time that has stuck with me when I go through heavy procrastination periods.
And if anyone ever feels like they are the biggest procrastinator ever, just know you’re not alone.