I am the queen of procrastination. Predominately because I can make lists full of things that aren’t necessary to do immediately, which can then be done in the place of things that are. And my predilection for reading. Mostly my predilection for reading. So, if you’re even half as much of a procrastinator as I am and want to get better just in time for the semester to start, read on young padawan.
1. Make a list.
Seriously, lists are great ways to procrastinate. You write out everything you need (and want) to do, making sure to include things that you don’t want to procrastinate on. Like watching the next episode of season four or setting up that lunch date with your friend. You get to feel like you accomplished something, and you did almost nothing at all.
2. Read!
Remember how your parents always wanted you to read growing up? They said it would make you do better in school, or something like that? Well, you’re still in school and reading still has benefits, so why not pick up a good book and relax for a while. Tell yourself it’ll just be one more chapter of fun and then you’ll get back to your astronomy book. Just one more...
3. Catch up with an old friend.
You keep meaning to call, text or write that one friend who you keep in contact with in months there are blue moons. Do it. You’ll have to spend forever talking and it’ll eat up plenty of time.
4. Make your own dinner!
Don’t take the easy way out and have dining hall food! Treat yourself. Get some friends, go buy ingredients and cook something! You’ll have to shop, prepare, cook, eat and clean! Guaranteed to take longer than just walking to the dining hall.
5. Clean your desk.
Clean workspaces are more productive workspaces. When you stop procrastinating, you’ll appreciate your procrastination.
6. While you're at it, clean the rest of your room.
Let the vibe spread throughout your space.
7. Do a crossword.
You’ll feel like you’re getting a mental workout while doing nothing useful whatsoever. Well, you might learn something. You never know when you’ll need to know a 13-letter word for ‘really big fire.’
8. Exercise?
People like that, right? You can probably procrastinate pretty well by convincing yourself that this will make you healthier. Or you could always procrastinate on this by doing work. Whichever is the lesser of the two evils for you.
9. Call your mom.
As long as it isn’t the middle of the night, she’ll probably be happy to hear from you and recounting what happened to the girl down the hall last Friday will probably take up a good amount of time. The downside is she’ll probably try to guilt you into ending your procrastination streak.
10. Soak up the sun.
Don’t get burnt (and you should probably put on some sunscreen), but take the chance to soak up some Vitamin D. Being as pale as Artemis Fowl is typically seen as unhealthy.
11. Bother your friends.
When all else fails, recruit your friends into your procrastination. You could talk, paint, have a “Hamilton” singalong or go for a midnight fast food run. Just be careful, some friends might bite if you drag them away from work when they’ve gone too far into the procrastination.
Note that turning to social media did not make this list as it is not necessary for procrastination; that is simply too basic. Of course, you can waste your time liking every single photo of your best friend’s going back to when they first joined Facebook, or creating a new Pinterest board. But get creative! Do something unusual. Master the art of procrastination.
