By Sarah Gill
Procrastination. A word all too familiar to idle students around the globe. A word we are painfully aware of as we sit at our desks, weighed down with assignments, and studiously ignore as we do the rounds from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram to Snapchat. I thoroughly enjoy writing articles for SIN, but guess who spent the last hour organising and reorganising her wardrobe before even opening up the laptop? Yours truly. I am speaking from a lifetime of ill-considered idle behaviour and I am here to tell you that it’s okay to be a procrastinator (for the most part).
Productive procrastination is the silent killer. This can span from the aforementioned cleaning of the bedroom to the meticulous organisation of notes to pondering the meaning of life itself. I think it’s because these tasks are not required of us. If I had to clean my room by tomorrow morning, I would probably start by kicking off one of the many essays due next week. It’s our breed, as human beings, to put off the things we don’t want to do until we absolutely have to. A popular phrase amongst my fellow undergraduates is “if it’s not the due day, it’s not the do day”. A motto which many of us live by.
Whether it’s binging on Netflix into the early hours of the morning or finding yourself on the ‘other’ side of YouTube, reminiscing old Vine compilations (RIP) until you realise you’ve missed your deadline, we’re all guilty of aimless procrastination. We’re all so used to living with the underlying guilt of neglecting our obligations that when we actually have time to relax with zero stress, that niggling feeling still remains.
Procrastinating isn’t necessarily confined to academic work. It can span to anything from putting off going to the gym or biding your time before you actually have to get up and shower. I’ve even gone so far as taking a nap before making my dinner; my procrastination could, quite literally, be the death of me! However, sometimes there is nothing more therapeutic than taking a break (I’m just back from a fifteen-minute interval spent eating Pringles). In the words of the legendary Oasis, “the importance of being idle” is something a lot of us can relate to. Taking time out from the stress of exams or essay writing or anything really can ease your mind just enough to enable you to get through it without succumbing to a break down!
Alas, I hope that the five or so minutes it took you to read this post has revived you enough to continue with your assignments! I’ll be rooting for you. If not, I would recommend an episode of Black Mirror or a quick browse through Twitter to set you on your merry way.
In the meantime, happy scrolling!
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