Okay, so you’re a college student, and you have mastered the art of procrastination. But what exactly does procrastination look like? What kinds of things do you do to avoid all of your responsibilities?
No matter what activities you engage in, you are probably participating in fake productivity (a term I coined myself). Fake productivity is when you do things that are productive but not as productive as getting your work done. You do these things to make yourself feel like you’re productive, but in reality, you’re just avoiding your real responsibilities.
1. You make a list of things you need to do, but then don’t do any of them.
I don’t know about you, but I love making lists. It usually takes me longer to actually write the list than it does to complete it. I write the simplest tasks on there just so I can get the satisfaction of checking them off.
2. You take a nap before you do your work because you can’t do work if you’re tired.
It will just be a quick nap. You won’t sleep through your alarms. It will be fine.
3. You go get food before you do your work because you can’t do work if you’re hungry.
A trip to the dining hall never hurt anybody! You have to refuel anyway. You need energy.
4. You clean your room before you do your work because you can’t do work in a messy environment.
How can you focus when there is so much to be done? Even though you would probably never clean your room under any other circumstance, you have to now.
5. You shower before you do your work because you will be able to focus on your work when you’re nice and clean.
There’s no better feeling than showering when you’re stressed. This will relieve your anxiety about having a lot to do while making the pile of things you have to do even bigger!
6. You go to the gym before you do your work because working out gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy, and you have to be happy to do your work.
7. You do your laundry before you do your work because you can do your work while you wait for your laundry to be done.
That’s productive! The 45 minutes it takes for the wash load to be done is about the time it will take you to get out your homework.
8. You do an easier, unimportant assignment that isn’t due for a while and isn’t worth as many points rather than doing the important, lengthy assignment due tomorrow.
9. You FaceTime/call your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, dogs, cats, friends, significant others, long lost relatives…
I mean, hey! You have to stay in touch with the people back home. It’s important to update your loved ones on your life and stay updated on their life, even if you just spoke to them yesterday and have way more pressing issues that should be addressed.
10. You scroll through all of your social media and apps on your phone (probably several times each).
Instagram. Twitter. Snapchat. Facebook. VSCO. Email. LinkedIn. Messages. Photos. You literally go through every app on your phone for the sole purpose of doing something other than homework.
11. You watch an episode of Netflix. Or 2. Or a whole season.
You start off by telling yourself, “I’ll just watch one episode.” The next thing you know, you’ve binged a whole season and still have a paper waiting to be written. We’re not going to even pretend that this is productive, but you do it anyway.