So every university student I know can procrastinate. I say, if we could get degrees in it, we'd all graduate with top honors. To damn bad we can't... But every single kid I know has a method on how to procrastinate to the best of your ability and still be able to write that paper, study, or get that extra hour of sleep before an exam if it is at all possible. Here are just a few of my favorites:
1-Cooking: for some reason, you would think that during exam season lunch would consist of a quick sandwich, breakfast a piece of toast, and dinner is a pizza that you either order for delivery or put in an oven for a few minutes and do work while it cooks. From experience, I think college kids all become the next Chef at the next 5 star restaurant during exam week. We all come up with elaborate meals, making sauces that go on top of various vegetables or meat, make soups from scratch, try something new that will require us reading a recipe in detail and go to the store at least twice, etc. Something as simple as a Tuna and Cheese Toastie becomes a work of art that probably looks better than most modern art does anyway. (Sorry to any modern art enthusiasts, I just don't get it) On Tuesday, I made a pizza for dinner. I was trying to make something quickly so I could get back to my studying in two shakes of a lamb's tail, as my grandmother would say. But nope, that is not what my procrastinating brain told me to do. It told me to sauté up some onions, roast a little garlic and grate up some fresh cheeses for toppings for my pizza. Cooking and preparing the toppings took even longer than after I put my pre-made cheese pizza in the oven to cook. Sad, or genius? To prove my point, I am known for my baking during stressful times in my life. I love to make cookies, cakes, breads, pies, anything I can get my hands on when I'm stressed out, I have the burn scars to prove it. If I have enough flour, butter, eggs, milk, and sugar, it's done. The funny thing is, I don't like sweet things that much. I have a salt tooth. Why do I spend my time slaving over a bowl, wooden spoon, and an oven in an apron when I know that I won't eat any more than a mouthful? Procrastination
2-Gym: Go to any university campus, the University of Virginia (UVA) most notably, and everyone is running! I mean everyone! You can't get down the street without seeing someone running. We love to keep in shape in college. Our metabolism is slowing down, yet we don't want to get out of shape in the possibility that we will meet the next hottie by us on the treadmill. I'm pretty sure we care more about our weight than we did in high school, and we can't seem to get rid of the extra pounds like we did those 2-3 years ago. That has an easy explanation, we drink more beer. But we shall save that argument for another day. When people were working out in the States, I knew it was for Spring break the majority of the time. In the UK, I don't have an answer, maybe they are just health conscious as a culture? If you have an opinion on that, let me know. Now what happens when you work out properly? You sweat, now to procrastination method number 3---
3-Showers: As a girl, I like to shower. As an American, I shower at least once a day if not more. I can't get over my own personal hygiene. I have to be clean. Sometimes I can't even sleep if I feel gross. Now anyone will know, that nothing feels better than a good shower. The hot steam, the smell of your body gel or shampoo, how wonderful it feels to have water hitting that spot in your back that you now have a knot in your muscles from being hunched over a desk. Or even better, a not that hot, but not that cold shower after a work out to cool you down. You think to yourself, "After I shower, I'm going to put in a good few hours of work, I just feel so relaxed that I could conquer the world." When in actuality, you could simply just conquer bed because you are that relaxed. Some people take quick showers, like, me and some already take 20-30 minute showers. Well extend your normal shower time by about 10 minutes, and thats how long a shower will be during exams. It just feels too good, and there is no way you can work study material into that time of your day. But then we have a problem, you get out and your wet... oh no! Need to do something with the hair, put on some clothes, because you can't study in a towel, and now where are those favorite pair of socks??? Procrastination
4-Cleaning: Well crap, can't find your favorite socks? How the hell can you study without those? Maybe they are dirty and in the laundry, well you better do it, just in case. Maybe those fuzzy warm socks are in your sock drawer, better organize that, along with the closet too! Everything has to be just neat enough. Well, you've already come this far, might as well wash the sheets, towels, vacuum if you can. Let's go ahead and take out the trash, that would make sense. The rest of your room is clean, might as well. Lets get the bathroom too. Who knows, the socks may be behind the toilet. Well better organize the desk, that just makes sense. You should probably have your notes in a very shapely fashion, in order, and maybe even color coded before you begin your studies. Nothing wrong with that. You look around at your bathroom that smells like bleach, clean floor, nice warm fresh from the dryer sheets, empty laundry basket, and completely organized room, and maybe you finally feel like everything is in it's place and now you are able to study. But where are your damn socks?
So in conclusion... college kids have exams. They are hard, they are long, they require a lot of studying that sometimes we just can't fit it all in. But we do try most of the time. Before we hit that breaking point where we can't read anymore, do equations, research, open a notebook or even try to get to the private silent study rooms at the library, we procrastinate. But on the bright side of not being smart and planning ahead, we end up being well fed, in shape, clean, and even have our rooms tidier than our mothers even thought was possible. Well maybe I shouldn't speak for all mothers, my momma wouldn't believe it. The question I leave for you to answer is this: I have an exam in the morning, I did study for it, took a practice test and did very well. Was writing this piece of literature my method of procrastination? We all have our methods of procrastination, it may not be the best idea in the world, but hey-
isn't that the life of a University student?
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