It’s that time of year again. Everyone is cramming to the max in order to finish last minute projects and essays. Hell, I wrote this article three hours before it was due. No one can avoid the depths of procrastination and no one says it better than Ellen DeGeneres: “Procrastinate now, don’t put it off.”
Here are some of the finest ways to avoid studying:
1. Yik Yak: What better way to not study than by posting about how you are not studying? It makes perfect sense for students to anonymously join together and discuss the commonality of avoiding homework, upcoming finals, failing grades and horrible teachers.
2. Naps: Not a total waste of your time in my opinion. Trust me, you will dream about all the answers and then regurgitate them on the test the next day.
3. Get Swoll: Go work out at the Markin Recreation Center and release those vital hormones such as dopamine and serotonin in order to start prime studying time later.
4. Tumblr: Create your own blog. Simply find and follow things you love and share photos, gifs, videos, music, quotes and texts.
6. Hilltop Happenings: Peruse this week’s events and I’m sure you’ll find something that is more appealing than your Biology textbook. Pinterest Club meets every Monday.
7. Cleaning: Tidying up your room or getting laundry done is the best way to still feel productive without actually accomplishing anything. It’s nearly impossible to study under such messy conditions anyways.
8. Late Night BU: Tuesday, Dec. 9, “Study Day Eve,” is the last Late Night BU of the semester. Work hard, play hard. Go have some fun before you buckle down for finals week.
9. Netflix: Every college student’s favorite way to stream movies and TV shows. One must be cautious because it’s so easy to get suckered in to watching a whole season when you only intended to watch an episode. Few students have the discipline and restraint to stop watching their favorite series once they get the ball rolling.
10. Study Group: If you ever tried studying with a group of friends for finals, it probably resulted in endless gossip, cracking out a bottle of wine and popping in a Christmas movie. Or if you’re a dude, tossing back some brews accompanied with a few rounds of FIFA.
Procrastination can really help take the edge off a stressful day, but too much can hurt you. Students are often prime targets of such detrimental cases of postponing the inevitable, but no one is immune to these occurrences.
“I applied to Indiana University and then for scholarship money you have to submit another application, which includes three essay questions,” freshman marketing major Dan Paulson said. “Naturally, I waited until the last day to do any of it. I worked on it nonstop all day and went to submit it at 11:50 [p.m.] with 10 minutes to spare. I nearly cried when the monitor said I had missed the deadline and I suddenly realized that Indiana is an hour ahead of us.”
Delaying work can affect someone in a multitude of ways, ranging from their future college chances to a final grade.
“Our research paper is due in a week.” junior sports communication major Warren Jones said. “We got this assignment during the first couple days of the semester and my group has yet to start.”
As my mom says, “Don’t put off till tomorrow what can be done today.”
Mother dearest may religiously recite this phrase, but I, along with the majority of college students, are still prone to the temptation of procrastination.
What Kind Are You?
What’s your personal form of procrastinating? Follow our nifty guide to see what category you fall into.
The Panicker: Instead of actually attempting any of the work that needs to be done, they would rather sit around and panic about how they will never finish.
The Social Media Guru: At one point in our lives, we were all probably guilty of this one. Hours can be spent switching between Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Vine and Yik Yak. This often results in disappointment because you are fully aware that an abundance of new posts in your feed is highly unlikely after five minutes.
The Gamer: It’s time to go to the App store and download all of the latest free games! Beating the next level of Candy Crush is a high priority on your list of impending work to accomplish.
The Devourer: Effective studying will be impossible without some brain food! No one can complete any task successfully without the energy that bag of Doritos will surely provide.
The YouTube Watcher: It starts out innocent enough with a single funny video but then the endless list of suggested/related videos is too tempting. The most time consuming channels include VEVO, YouTube Nation, Smosh, Funny or Die, College Humor, BuzzFeed and MovieClips.
