How to Procrastinate Effectively

A quick glance at the computers next to mine in Main Stacks and I see two people on facebook, one person shopping, another on tumblr and one more on gchat. This seems odd. I would think, since it is finals time and most of us have long, extensive papers to write, more computer screens would be donning that monotonous, single spaced academic writing. Instead all I see flashing across countless computers are time sucking distractions, and I think how easy it is to get sucked in that black hole of Procrastination. Especially since we don’t have classes all week.

Everyone procrastinates differently. My friend, for example, cleans. “I’ll start doing my work after I’ve cleaned the place up a bit, I want everything to be clean when I start working.” Wrong. After you’ve cleaned up the place a bit, all you will feel is tired, so you’ll treat yourself to some TV instead. And so, just like that, you’ve been sucked in, and while your desk may be nice and clean and neat, the pile of work on it is still there, untouched, daunting and staring at you like that wad of cash from the Geico commercials.

Me on the other hand, I procrastinate with the Internet. I think most people fall into this category. It is easy, after 15 minutes of rigorous essay writing, or reading or note taking, to think, “I’m just going to check my email,” because obviously, something must have changed since you last checked it 15 minutes ago, right? Somehow, checking my email ends up eating an hour (or 4) of my time, and oh no, it is past midnight, wouldn’t it just be more effective for me to sleep now so I can concentrate tomorrow? It is so easy to keep putting off work you know you need to do.

Except, let’s face it, procrastination has such a bad rep, and I’m here to do some PR. I’ve found a way to procrastinate effectively (or I’ve convinced myself it is more effective–because anything has to be more effective than online shopping all night).

Procrastinating effectively

means employing yourself in easy and fun ways that will somehow help your studies, or career plans. Since, for many of us, procrastinating happens on the internet through those virtual friends who lure us in with their simple “hey” on gchat, that means you have to find a way to procrastinate effectively on the internet. So, for example, if you’re interested in music, spend two hours reading music blogs instead of facebooking, or tweeting about how you can’t focus on the mountain of work waiting for you. I’m personally into literature and poetry, so when I try to avoid doing my work, I click through blogs that are all
about books.

There are ways to keep from doing work, that will not be total time sucks. You can procrastinate and not regret the time spent on procrastinating. Here is a list of intellect enhancing blogs wearing comedies clothes, or just cool blogs that are totally worth putting homework off for:

Austin Kleon’s Horoscopes

More intelligent, thought provoking horoscopes. My December one is “cultivate rivals.”

http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/12/01/december-horoscopes/

Notcot

Everything is visually pleasing here, from travel, to technology to design. I personally enjoy the travel section, because it is important for me to know what country I can go to if I feel like staying in a tree house hotel (Sweden).

 http://www.notcot.org/

Wooster Collective

We live in Berkeley, we love street art, which means we love websites dedicating to celebrating street art.

 http://www.woostercollective.com/

The Awl

My favorite website to waste, I mean spend, time on. It’s charming, and full of clever, intelligent humor. It’s somewhere in between a newsmagazine and a culture magazine, all wrapped in the relaxed tone of blogging.

 http://www.theawl.com/

We Heart

Not to be mistaken with the nauseating ‘we heart it’ tumblr pictures. This online magazine is based out of the UK and is dedicated to “delivering the best and most innovative in design, lifestyle, music, arts and travel.” They’ve got a wide variety of unique articles.

 http://www.weheart.co.uk/

Urban Sketchers

“See the world one drawing at a time.” This blog is basically a community of people who quickly sketch what they’re seeing, and put it up online for all of us to see. Sketchers from all around the world put up their drawings. There is an intimacy to drawings that photographs sometimes fail to  capture. This is the place to go for quick, personal on location drawing. You will almost feel like you were there, with the artist.

http://www.urbansketchers.org/ 

Drawn

Even if you are not into animation, you will probably find yourself spending a lot of time looking at the brilliant up and coming comics and animators of today.

 http://blog.drawn.ca/

P.S. I Made This

This blog is for anyone who is a little crafty but does not have time to invest in full blown craft projects. It is full of easy picture tutorials, and its pretty to look at.

 http://psimadethis.com/

They Draw and Cook

It’s nice, after a long day of studying, to eat something that was not put together in three minutes and costs you up to $10. So, when you find yourself getting distracted on facebook, go to this blog and browse through recipes that are not only easy to follow, but are written and illustrated on recipe cards by users of the sight. Each recipe is unique in its design, so while you’re cooking, you’ll not only get a good home cooked meal, you’ll be getting wonderful illustrations to go with it.

http://www.theydrawandcook.com/

Go along and feast your eyes and brain on these distracting blogs. I wouldn’t worry too much about all that work you have to do, future you can take care of that. Present you is trying to effectively procrastinate right now.