Writing for Odyssey has taught me many things about writing and about myself. However one of the most telling lessons I've learned is how skilled I am in procrastinating. If it were a skill that could be turned into a profitable profession, I would likely be a millionaire by now. I lead a fairly busy life in the first place but that doesn't stop me from procrastinating when I do finally find time to sit down and write my weekly article. If you happen to be a fully functioning adult with their life together, you may not know that much about procrastinating an article but don't let that stop you. With my tips and tricks on avoiding any and all responsibilities, you can become a master at procrastinating as well.
1. Grab a snack
When in doubt, grab a snack. This can eat up (no pun intended) plenty of valuable time. Not only do you have to figure out what you want to eat, you also have to prepare it and eat it.
2. Forget your log in information
In order to submit my information on The Odyssey, I have to be able to log into our system. Do yourself a favor and forget all of your passwords. This will make it hard to get anything done when you're racking your brain to recall your log in info.
3. Get a glass of water, but barely fill it up
Go for it, get yourself a drink. But be sure to barely fill it up. That way you have a reason to keep getting up and going back to the kitchen. Why fill it up all the way once when you could waste time going back and forth?
4. Snapchat
Snapchat updates their filters so often, why not postpone your writing just a little bit longer to send your friends some bomb selfies?
5. YouTube
This works for professional and amateur procrastinators. All you need to do is type in one type of video, my go tos are makeup and hair tutorials, Spanish or Russian learning videos and acoustic covers. (I know, I'm kinda #basic) All you need is one to catapult you into the depths of YouTube. There will always be one more suggested video to click on when your video is finished. You may intend to watch a 4 minute tutorial and instead waste 3 hours.
6. Nap
When in doubt, take a nap. Not only will you wake up refreshed, you'll also have killed some more of that valuable time. Who knows, you might even wake up with an actual useful article idea. Or not. Who knows?
7. Play with your cat
If you don't have a cat, I suggest getting one. They're great when you want to procrastinate. Not only will they help you out by sitting on your keyboard, they also love to play when you really need to be doing something.
So, if you have an article to write and desperately want to increase your frustration and stress levels, use these tips to procrastinate until the last second. Your heart will get a workout and your creativity will as well as you try to figure out what to write about after a couple of hours of procrastination.
