Studying? Yeah, right — try these creative procrastination techniques instead

We’ve all been there. There’s no use in denying it. You’re sitting in Brody or Gilman or wherever you choose to study and you spend ninety percent of your time fooling around and accomplishing nothing that will ever be helpful to you and maybe (if you’re lucky) you study for a grand total of ten minutes. If you’re going to waste a rather large chunk of your life in this way, you might as well get creative with your procrastination, right? That being said, here’s a list of nine new and creative things you can do in those hours of utter waste:

1. Eat numerous small snacks at the Brody Café, but enough that it adds up to an actual meal. Everyone loves to snack, so why not incorporate it into your procrastination time? Tired of studying organic chemistry? Go grab a bag of Sun Chips! Frustrated with that essay? Go grab another bag of Sun Chips! Eating is probably one of the best things one can do with their time, because no matter how depressing your work situation looks, food makes you feel just a tiny bit better.

2. Watch X-Factor audition videos on YouTube. Why X-Factor videos in particular, you might ask. Well, I’ve come to find that when you need a pick me up while studying, nothing quite does the trick like X-Factor audition videos. And there’s something for everyone! If you’re the kind of person that loves to see someone succeed and overcome adversity, give Carly Rose Sonenclar’s audition video a watch. If you’re one of those terribly mean people that enjoys watching others suffer embarrassment, then you can tune into some of the auditions that go horribly wrong. And trust me, there are a lot of those.

3. Watch Scandal over and over again and dream about becoming even half as cool as Olivia Pope. If you haven’t started watching the best show on television, you need to. Scandal has something for everyone and every single episode leaves me (and I can only assume many others) completely shocked and questioning why my own life isn’t nearly as cool as Olivia’s is. I can honestly say that I’ve never watched a show that has had so many dramatic occurrences before. It’s hard to explain the magic that is Scandal, so if you haven’t watched it yet, just go watch it. You won’t regret it.

4. Buy Stickers online so your laptop can look cooler in future study instances. If you’re one of those misguided few who hasn’t decked your laptop cover out in stickers, then use your not-so-precious study time to order some online! There are stickers for all personalities. I personally will be decking my computer out in Coca-Cola, Harry Potter, and sassy grammar stickers but there are ones that suit all personalities and not just my nerdy, addicted to caffeine one.

5. Make use of Eat24 and order some poutine online. The first question that might have arisen for some of you is, what is poutine? I’ll stop you right there. It is the greatest dish in the world. In simple terms it is fries covered in gravy and cheese. And now, I know that most of you will be making grossed out facial expressions but I’m going to stop you again. Don’t hate on it until you’ve tried it because trust me, once you try it, you will be unable to hate on it. But back to the main point. Make use of Eat24 while studying. It’s a rather brilliant tool that everyone should use. You get the exact kind of food you are currently craving without having to move at all. It’s a win-win.

6. Share obscure YouTube videos with friends – starting with “The Fox.” Sharing YouTube videos is nothing new but there are constantly new videos that need to be shared. The latest instance of this is the music video for “The Fox” by Ylvis. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, get out from under the rock you’ve been living under and watch it immediately. I don’t want to throw out the phrase life-changing too easily, but it is pretty life-changing.

7. After watching “The Fox,” research how foxes actually sound. After listening to the lyric “What the fox say?” over and over again, the question arises of what foxes actually do sound like. As a result, numerous articles are being published with information on how foxes actually sound. Fair warning, the sounds they make are not nearly as entertaining as the video leads one to believe. If anything, they’re a little bit terrifying.

8. Plan out the theme of your house party that’s happening next weekend based on “The Fox.” If it seems like I’ve gone off on a fox tangent, it’s because I have. “The Fox” is applicable to all aspects of life, especially house parties. It’s quite simple, actually. The hosts order an endless supply of cheap animal masks and give them out to guests as they arrive and boom! Instant awesome party theme.

9. Write an article for The News-Letter. If all else fails use your time in a productive way and help out your lovely college paper. If you want to be an intense go-getter, write for News or Science but if you want to be like me and write about your random thoughts, write for Hip Hop. And ignore those questioning looks you receive as you giggle to yourself while writing your hilarious article.

This list of procrastination techniques should keep you occupied for a good amount of time. And if you manage to get through them all, that’s probably a pretty clear sign that you should start actually working. At what point did it become really obvious that I was just writing about my Sunday afternoon in the Library? Sorry about that, guys.