Essays are hard. Studying is hard. Group projects are the literal worst. But you’re a diligent and motivated boss, so you sit down three days before your assignment is due with your notes and coffee in hand, ready to shut out the world and attack life.

But then it happens. You get hungry, so you take a break and wander aimlessly through the kitchen. While you’re in there, you realize you’re out of frozen waffles, so you prolong your break and make a completely necessary trip to the store. While you're at the store, you remember all of the things you want to buy that you can't afford. So you go home and browse Amazon for a hot minute. You've begun procrastinating, my friend. And it’s all downhill from there.

Next thing you know you’re seven seasons deep in “Pretty Little Liars” and you still don’t even know who "A" is- and you just don’t need that extra frustration in your life.

But you don’t have to necessarily waste time while you’re wasting time. So if you’ve come down with a case of procrastination, give these a spin.

1) Work Out

It’s not like you’ll regret being active… and years from now your 75-year-old self will thank you for prioritizing your physical health over that one little essay anyway. Besides, a lot of people get their best ideas while running, swimming, elliptical-ing, or what have you. So if you’re mentally blocked, take it out in the gym and remember: procrastinating at the gym doesn’t really even count as procrastinating... so you’re good.

2) Go Talk To A Stranger

Not in a creepy way. Just make a new friend. It’s all about getting a fresh perspective- step out of your own little bubble and remind yourself just how big the world is. Strike up a convo with any random Joe or Jane and enjoy their company, even if it’s just for five minutes. You could end up meeting a lifelong amigo, or it could horribly awry and take a turn for the uber-awkward. Either way, you're making memories and that's what life is all about-so homework can just chill.

3) Call A Friend, Grandparent, Sibling, Etc.

Find out what’s been going on in their world lately. Again, get outside of yourself and keep the conversation focused on them. Make your grandmother/grandfather’s day by calling them or Skype your long distance friend. The time that you spend making yourself available to the people that you love is never wasted time, and someday, we’ll wish we had spent more of it that way.

4) Take Pictures

Not selfies, not food pics. Take good pictures. Capture moments that will only happen once. Go outside and snap pics of the sunset or the eccentric building that you walk by every day on the way to class. Because you know what? That sunset will never happen again. That dope building could get torn down tomorrow. Documenting that stuff is important. Someone has to do it.

5) Get Lit(erature)

Pick up a book other than the one you’re supposed to be studying/writing an essay on, and absorb as much as you can. Learn from the original gangsters of philosophy, history, politics, science- you name it. Enlighten yourself about anything. Like Mark Twain said: “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Obviously, reading about World War II or the future of animal cloning is just as productive as working on your bogus assignment.

So maybe you can’t force yourself to write that ten page paper or study for your non-multiple choice exam that is worth 90% of your grade. That’s OK. Because you’re going to get it done eventually (probably with two minutes to spare), and if you procrastinate effectively, you’ll have read a few books, maybe made some new friends, and have killer pics for the ‘gram by the end of it all.