Ah, finals, the week filled with all-nighters, last minute cramming, and post-test tears. Now, yes, you can study your best and do fine, or not study and do fine, but there is one problem that will always haunt even the most dedicated students... Procrastination. Putting off time spent studying to do other (usually pointless) tasks or activities. Here are some of the common, and uncommon, ways you could end up failing your finals.
1. Taking a "Short" Nap
You've been working hard (or not) and decide to take a quick, refreshing 30 minute nap... the next thing you know it's five hours later and you're starting to drown in a pool of drool.
2. The "One More Episode"
You've promised to watch one episode while you jam everything you want to do into your "short" break. Then, three episodes later, Netflix asks you if you're still watching, you see your ashamed reflection in the screen, and you either choose to go back to work or watch more episodes.
3. The Social Media Trap
"Okay, I have to work... but first I should probably check Instagram... and maybe Twitter... oh, and Facebook... I wonder what MySpace looks like now."
4. Overtime
"Hmm, well, I said that I would start studying at 5, but it's 5:04, so now I have to start working at 6."
"Oh, darn, it's 6:02; well, I guess I'll just start fresh tomorrow."
5. "But I Need a Snack First"
With finals being a struggle of balancing basic human needs like food and sleep with studying, snacks will play a big part in keeping you going, but don't let snacks turn into a seven-course gourmet meal.
6. Internet Holes
Okay, I have to watch this Ted Talk, but wait, there's a talk on Secret U.S. Prisons, I better check this out first.
Five minutes later...
Okay, so what if all the world leaders are shape-shifting alien lizards?
15 minutes later...
Huh... Thomas Jefferson sent out Lewis and Clark to find living Mastodons in the uncharted West of America so he could cover the floor of the White House with Woolly Mammoth bones.
Wait, what I am supposed to be doing?
7. Military Homecoming Videos
Yes, these are some of the best, most emotional videos on the internet (and I want to thank any former and current servicemen and servicewomen for serving your country) but as anyone who has watched them can confirm, you will never watch just one. This is in connection with number three; you see a shared video on Facebook of one of these videos and then Boom! down the rabbit hole you go, three hours later and you're suffering from "allergies."
8. List Making
Okay, so you've started making your list for everything you have to study and turn in for the entire week. Then you realize how long the list is, and that you've taken 35 minutes to write it all down... so you take a break.
9. The Clean-Up
You sit down to study and suddenly you realize you can't work under these conditions. Your room is way too dirty to study in. Therefore you bust out the laundry basket and the trash can and clean your room from ceiling to ground. Then you've definitely earned a break too.
10. Coming up with a Plan for if You Drop Out
Okay, now this may be late into procrastination, when you become aware of the consequences, but it is a very common procrastination practice.
"Okay guys, it's for-sure, I am done, but now I can live my dream of being a goat."
(Which you can actually do!)
My plan would be to sell any possessions of mine, except my cameras, get a one-way ticket to a foreign country, and work my way back to Portland when I can.
11. Reading Lists About Procrastination
Yeah, I'm looking at you right now, this is some meta "Inception"-level shiz, isn't it?
Well, there ya have it, I helped you procrastinate a little bit, didn't I?
In all seriousness, good luck to everyone out there on their finals, study hard and then party harder when summer comes around.
Remember: There are no limits to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else.
