You know you need to study but you really really don’t want to. So you look for something else to spend your time on. Anything else. We all know the feeling and with exams around the corner; you might find yourself to be the posterchild for student procrastination.
If you’re convincing yourself that now is the perfect time to start that origami collection you’ve always wanted, or finally sort through your sock drawer and throw out all the ones that don’t match… we hate to break it to you, but you’re procrastinating.
Students procrastinate in many innovative ways (like having a competition with your roommate to see who can hold his breath the longest), but across the board there are five main student procrastination activities that you need to avoid if you want to get through the exam period.
When you need to study for a big exam, the internet is not your friend! Sites like Buzzfeed, Pinterest and YouTube make it easy to completely lose track of time. Your friend might have sent you a single Buzzfeed or YouTube link, that you decide to click on. And before you know it, you’ve lost three hours of your life watching videos of cats skateboarding.
Bottom line: if you have work to get through don’t click that link!
Netflix is great for lazy Saturdays. It has a wide variety of content for you to choose from, and it’ll even recommend things you might like!
However, when you need to study its persistence in getting you to watch “just one more episode” can become a real problem. When it comes to series, it will immediately start the next episode after you’ve finished watching the current one, giving you only a few seconds to stop it from happening.
So when you’re already not majorly motivated to study, it would probably be best to avoid switching it on and falling into its trap!
If you’ve been putting off cleaning and organising your room all term, exam time might look like the perfect opportunity to get this done. You might have even convinced yourself that you’ll study better once everything is clean.
While this may be true, and while your mother would likely be proud if she knew you were cleaning, it is still a form of procrastination.
So before you start organising and vacuuming, ask yourself: “does this really have to be done right now?” and if not, clear a space on your desk and get studying!
If you find yourself wondering about people who you went to high school with, and you suddenly feel the urge to check how they’re doing, don’t. Facebook makes looking up people you used to know really easy, as almost everyone has an account these days.
While this may look like a quick 5-minute distraction, it hardly ever stays at that. Before you know it you will likely have looked up your entire high school class, taken screenshots of people who’ve dramatically changed their appearance, and sent these on to your best friends. After which, you’ll likely end up having a lengthy WhatsApp conversation about it.
It’s easy for a 5-minute distraction to spiral out of control, so best avoid it altogether.
We often hear people say, “I had so much to do and I didn’t know where to start, so I took a nap instead.” Don’t be one of those people. Napping is always appealing, even in later life, but it really doesn’t get things done.
Instead, get started on your work and promise yourself a nap when you’re done. It might just motivate you to get through the study material even faster.
Avoid these five top student procrastination activities and you’ll be well on your way to acing your exams. However, if you really do need a break, why not check out our great student storage offers. (It will only take a couple of minutes, so you can get back to your books in no time!)
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