In honor of dead week, I thought that I would impart a bit of wisdom on all of you. Now, be warned, this wisdom won’t necessarily “help” you in the traditional way. I am by no means going to tell you how to live your life or complete some task. In fact, I’m going to tell you how to avoid completing some task. Why am I doing this, you might ask. Well, to keep your sanity during an incredibly stressful time, sometimes you need to get off track and chill out. So, to help you with that, here is a list of five things that I do to avoid actually doing work.
1. Procrasti-cleaning:
If getting stressed out makes you want to do anything but the work that you are supposed to be doing, I suggest cleaning. Now, I know that this might seem weird, but trust me; it makes you feel a lot better. First of all, if you are like me you sometimes let you laundry or dishes pile up. So what? You’re human! But, you also get a huge amount of satisfaction from finally cleaning that mess. So, channel that stress into cleaning and soon enough you will feel more energized and willing to get back to studying. The danger in this method is to not get too wrapped up in how successful your cleaning break. If you convince yourself that you have done enough studying for the day and go to bed, you have lost.
2. Netflix and stress:
This one is exactly what it sounds like: you watch Netflix. Stressfully. Sometimes I will intentionally get off track to scare myself, which might sound counterintuitive, but actually isn’t. Why would I scare myself? Well, sometimes that’s the only thing that gets me motivated. I will be re-watching (for what seems like the 100th time) an episode of Parks and Rec and suddenly, my stomach will drop and I will remember why I need to keep up with the to-do list that I created that morning. I’m telling you, fear is an extremely effective tool for motivating yourself.
3. Online excursions:
This term encompasses any unnecessary online browsing. For example, if you are studying and suddenly your left elbow starts to hurt, do not go on Web M.D. and diagnose yourself with an incurable elbow disease. It will do nothing to help your stress levels. In face, it could even increase them because you might convince yourself that you do, in fact, have this incurable elbow disease. Another thing that I like to do to get myself off task is convince myself that I need more clothes. I will go online and window shop until I drop. I play this fun game where I will put a bunch of stuff that I feel like I want inside my shopping cart, narrow down that list to consist of the things that I actually really “need”, select a shipping method, and then close that tab. It is a total waste of my time, but it is also so much fun. 10/10 would recommend.
4. Working out:
Like the procrasti-cleaning, this is another method where I trick myself into thinking that I am being productive. This is how I justify it in my mind: working out keeps me healthy and being healthy keeps me from dying. Therefore, working out keeps me alive. So, really, it is in my best interests to work out, no matter how much time it takes away from studying.
5. Going on late-night adventures with friends:
Ok, so this one has no justification. Every once in a while, I reach a point where I absolutely cannot get any work done. At this point, it is better for me to tire myself out and go to sleep rather than try to push through this mindset. So, what I do is find some friends who are willing to distract themselves for a couple of hours (note: do not mess with friends who are actually trying to study because they will not react well) and just go out and do dumb (but not illegal) stuff. For example, if I have a ton of meal points left, I will bribe my friends into going to late-night at crossroads or going on a shopping spree at Bear Market. Either way, it is fun to get out of your study environment and talk about random stuff with your friends
Now, to be clear, I am not advocating an unproductive dead week. I am merely providing you all with ways to distract yourself for a brief amount of time. Dead week is a very stressful time where students often throw their mental health out the window in favor of a higher GPA. And, while good grades are important, nothing is worth compromising your mental health. So, if you feel like you are getting nothing done, just step back from your work and do something else. Breaks are important. So, clean your room, watch a Disney movie, buy some swimsuits online, lift some weights, and have fun with your friends. I promise you that dead week will feel more bearable if your days have a little variety. Good luck!
