So, it’s winter. Which means it’s cold and ……. it’s exam season 🙁
By this point at the end of the semester, we’re all zombies.
And for most of us, our experience of studying for exams can be captured in one word: panic.
For me, there is honestly only one way to resolve this: to calmly but productively procrastinate in order to delay your study for as long as you can before you realise you have no choice but to but to hit the books.
And then, when there is no time left, you hit the books with a level of fury and passion you never knew you had. Sounds crazy, but it works. So, let’s get started: let’s procrastinate!
Here’s my top five productive procrastination tips to help you get through exam season:
#1 – Clean your study space.
Get the most out of your study time by organising your space early.
Nice intention but, reality is, your desk is going to get chaotic regardless. Instead, why not spend the next few days ‘cleaning’ your desk, uncovering old magazines, looking back upon sentimental high-school papers and random comics you found funny in sixth grade and reminiscing about concerts you attended when you find the ticket stubs.
Heck, why not clean out your room at this point, replace the covers on your bed, organise your dishevelled clothes, move all your furniture around, redecorate, vacuum the floors – whatever you can do to keep you from the dreaded task of starting to study.
#2 – Get plenty of sleep.
Since the dawn of society, sleep has been the best way for humans to escape any problems they might have, for a couple of hours at least. Nothing’s changed.
The easiest way to waste time is to lie down, put on your favourite relaxing music, rest your eyes and doze off into unconsciousness.
Studying is tough work, but convincing yourself to start is even more stressful. The last thing you want to do is deprive yourself of sleep. It can put strain on your memory capacity, making it difficult to remember essays verbatim. Need I say more?
#3 – Study with a buddy.
If studying by yourself isn’t tedious enough, share the dread with a friend! Having a study partner can help keep you focused, on track and allows you to exchange tips and ideas that you may not have thought of on your own.
Ha! This one’s guaranteed to waste time through the sheer amount of angsty chit-chat alone. There’s also the wonderful security of knowing that your study partner is probably going to fail right along with you. No snaking here.
Extra points if your study buddy is a party fiend with substance abuse issues. There’s no way they are going to make you knuckle down before you both absolutely HAVE to.
#4 – Location, location, location.
Finding an appropriate, clean, quiet place to study is essential to studying success.
Finding an ideal place to waste time is also essential when it comes to not starting study.
This one’s a no-brainer. Get out of the house and go see a movie, play pool, go out for lunch, go camping where there’s no wifi – whatever. But wherever you end up, ensure that you’re going to burn at least a few hours there.
#5 – Meditate to relax your mind.
Anxiety is a given during exam periods. It’s important to keep a clear mind so that you can retain as much information as possible, and study efficiently without distractions.
I recommend staring blankly into the void until you have an existential crisis, coming to the realisation that life is made up of a meaningless series of empty milestones and utterly pointless tasks. Is reality even real? Paint your face, pretend you’re a cat for a day. Nothing matters. Least of all, your exams.
This should keep you mute and unable to function for at least a day.
When carried out with due care, all of the above should burn up all the time you could have spent unproductively studying.
Good luck with your exams 🙂
By Dennis Yu