Let’s take an adventure together that many of us have embarked on in college. I’ll set the scene. It’s a school night, you are in your dorm/apartment or at a coffee shop. Tomorrow you have a big assignment due. And … ACTION!
“It’s due at 7:55 a.m., which gives me 17 hours before it’s due.” If not these exact times, these are the infamous words of every great procrastinator.
College is a balancing game of pushing things off until the last minute, but giving yourself just enough time to thoroughly complete assignments. At the same time, as college students, we know that there is no such thing as free time.
We are always striving to be semi-productive in at least one way or another. This is when the idea of productive procrastination comes into play. Productive procrastination means that you know you have something due, but instead, you do other things that you eventually have to but that aren’t as pressing.
Here are a few examples of how to be productive, while procrastinating, on less pressing priorities. Phew, plenty of problems!
Procrastination List Making
Looking at the giant assignment ahead of you, some of us start by avoiding this one thing that we unequivocally know we must do by making a list of all other things you must do as well. This allows you to organize and think ahead of what else you have to do and how you should wisely spend your time.
“Ah, I have to clean out my backpack. I don’t think I can start to do my assignment until that is sorted out. Clean backpack = clean mind!” Time check: 15 hours before it’s due.
Procrastination Cleaning and Organizing
Now we put that list to work. Instead of doing your assignment, it is okay to engage in a different task that allows you to feel marginally productive. Take for example, your backpack organization or apartment/dorm cleaning.
While it might not be getting your assignment done, in the end, you will not only be in a cleaner environment allowing more focus on the task at hand, but you won’t have to come back and clean up later before you decide to go out on the weekend. Time check: 13 hours before it’s due.
Procrastination Laundry
Now, if you still can't focus and crank that paper out, another ideal thing you can do is laundry. Especially if you live in dorms, while you clean your things, you can also have a nice quiet study space to study and do work. This is the perfect way to study in blocks of time and get double the work done by doing household and academic responsibilities. Time check: 10 hours before it’s due.
Procrastination Homework
Sometimes we know we have something due, but we cannot bring ourselves to do it, but we still want to be academically productive. Instead of staring at the black assignment, an easy option is to work on other homework that you will eventually have to do anyway, but is short lived and easy to accomplish. Time check: 7 hours before it’s due.
Procrastination Shopping
Now, this one might be a little controversial but when is shopping not necessary? There is always something that you know you need to get in the back of your head and with amazon and online shopping at our fingertips, purchasing these items gives you the opportunity to run errands quickly and easily. Time check: 5 Hours before it’s due
The final stretch
It's now 3:55 in the morning and you finally start stressing about how you still have to finish your assignment and you are now tired. You spent all this time avoiding the inevitable when you finally sit down and start working, your hands are typing lighting fast like nobody's business.
Being in this fresh clean space and knowing you have crossed everything off your to-do list has left your mind clear and able to focus. Not to mention, you now have the pressure of time forcing you to finish and to get the grade. Time check: 3 hours before it’s due.
Once the paper has been submitted and have received the grade two days later and it isn’t half bad, it’s time to reassess whether procrastination is best for you. Obviously the time crunch and working under pressure gives you a high like no other, but maybe don’t utilize all of these productive procrastination activities on one deadline.
Utilize these procrastination ideas to help you be productive while you are putting off an assignment. We are college kids and simply can't do it all; however, kill two birds with one stone and do your daily chores and school assignments together.
