War of the Words: Battling Procrastination

Blank Word documents- striking fear into the hearts of students since '83 

At this precise moment in time I am procrastinating. Unless, of course, attempting to clean my desk, finishing the pizza in the fridge and catching up on far too many TV shows are all extremely productive (hint: they’re not). This procrastination is the worst, as this is the one I've been battling for months on end. Brace yourself, students, the dreaded word is coming. 

Dissertation.

Now the dissertation is supposed to sum up all of the things you learned at university. It’s supposed to represent your learning, your development, and your ability to read a hundred books in a year. Mine, on the other hand, will most likely represent a half-drunk, half-caffeine-crazed night of stressing, typing and crying a week before the deadline. Needless to say, this is not a good thing. So far I've managed to put off doing any real work for it for over four months, and now I'm in the home stretch of university it’s like I can feel the full non-existent 8000 words of it looming over me, prodding at me before I fall asleep and attacking whenever I consider writing something that isn't academic. 

Coffee- the secret villain. 

But why do we even bother procrastinating? Sometimes, even if the work is easy or enjoyable to write, we put it off for as long as physically possible. It could be that deep down, we all just have that mentality of ‘I hate homework’, but it seems to be more than that. I think it’s the feeling of just having so much to do, that when you actually get round to doing anything productive, no one knows where to start, and then as time goes on, you still haven’t done it, and you keep thinking about it and getting emails, and repeatedly checking what day the deadline is at two in the morning. Who knew that all that pestering for essay plans in high school actually had a real reason, and that it was to avoid unwise quantities of coffee in your later years? 

I'm going to assume that this happens to the best of us, and if you’re a third year, you’re probably having similar problems right now (unless you are horribly organized, in which case I'm both impressed and jealous). It applies to everyone, that feeling of stress and despair and generally wanting to tear out your own hair. The New Year brings a new war of exams, coursework and final grades, and every year seems worse than the last. This term has won my sleep, my hope and my tears twice before, and I'm determined to fight back this time. So here’s a small (hopefully useful) list of things I do to de-stress, stay on top of things (kind of), and procrastinate an acceptable amount. You know, when I can be bothered. 

1. Fresh air. This is the one that everyone says, but it helps. If you’re in student housing, the confinement, the constant noise and the cold can make your work environment seem terrible, and you’d be surprised how much better you feel after a walk. If, like me, you live in an area that isn't the best for walking alone in, crack open a window. Yes, really. My old English teacher used to say it cleared your mind, and although I've never been so sure on how sane she was, I do know it works. 

2. Talk to someone. A long rant about your course/essay/revision/vanishing tutor? You’d be surprised how much better you feel after complaining about it. You might also be surprised at how many of your friends are feeling the exact same way, and sometimes just being able to scream and swear about it together makes all that work seem a bit lighter. 

3. Dig out a pen and paper. Working at a computer leads me to watching either cat videos or terrible horror films, and having the internet so close to hand can make it dangerously easy to procrastinate. Something about writing on paper makes me feel like I'm back in school, but it does help me pull myself out of the spiral of procrastination. Also does it feel more like ‘real work’ to anyone else?

4. Find a TV series that is simultaneously entertaining yet shallow to put on while you write. You don’t need to focus, you don’t need to actually pay attention to the characters, but it makes good background noise (if you need it). You can also set deadlines to coincide with the show, like planning to finish a page in one episode. Bonus points if you find something that vaguely relates to your subject, or if the characters’ lives are so miserable it actually makes you feel better about yours. 

5. Deep breaths, make a coffee/tea, take a ten minute study break. Rinse, repeat. It’s basic, but breaks make everything seem better. 

And if all of that fails, write a blog post. I've also attached some links at the bottom of this post that might help kick start you into working. Good luck!

RainyMood - background noise, although if you live in Manchester this is probably what you hear anyway.

8tracks Study Mix- I was sold as soon as I heard an instrumental of 'Royals'.

Productive Study Break Tips from people who know better than me, and..

This video. Just because.