Every fall, students look forward to a new semester of new clothes, new school supplies, and new classes. Everyone makes plans to go to the gym three times a week, sleep by midnight, and allocate certain times of the day to study. Planners are bought, motivational apps are downloaded, and desks are cleaned for optimal concentration. All of this? Sounds great, doesn't work. For semester students, it is now week 10 and even the motivation to do assignments before the night it's due has gone away. For quarter system students, it is now the middle of midterm season, and life is terrible. In case you were wondering whether you were one of these students, here are five signs that you might need a little break from school.
1. You no longer wake up for your early classes
2. You have an essay due at midnight, but that no longer scares you
The assignment is due at 11:59pm, and it's 9:30pm. Why are you in line at Trader Joe's buying yet another bag of peanut butter pretzels? At this point in the semester, you have mastered the skill of pulling words out of nowhere and throwing them all onto a word document at an unimaginable speed, then submitting the 5 page masterpiece less than 30 seconds before the deadline. This is a skill, not procrastination.
3. You start a new show in the middle of the week
Yes, you have class tomorrow. And the next day too. Yes, the show is 45 minutes per episode and 5 seasons in. All of that means nothing to you. You want to watch the show, and you're going to watch it right now. There will be lots of regrets in the future, but that's for future you to anguish over. You don't really need to do those readings and you don't really need to do all that research, right?
4. You spend class time researching your next vacation
Knowing very well that this concept is difficult and knowing well that this class content will definitely be on the final, you still can't stop yourself from looking up plane tickets to Hawaii. You tried hard to focus in the first 20 minutes of class, but the moment you do, your eyes start closing and the next thing you know, 10 minutes have passed and you have fallen asleep in the second row. You don't have the money to go to Hawaii, but at least looking up a vacation there will keep you awake in class to at least hear the lecture.
5. You procrastinate so hard that you finish all your chores
The thought of starting that homework set is just so atrocious that you end up vacuuming your whole room, doing all your laundry, meal prepping for the rest of the week, and even washing the dishes for everyone in your apartment. Next thing you know, it's 10pm and you still haven't touched any of your homework. At least you no longer live in complete mess.
