• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Life / Academics / Boot Camp for the Procrastinator in All of Us

Boot Camp for the Procrastinator in All of Us

April 1, 2015 //  by Rachel Aldrich

Shares4FacebookTweet

It’s 11 p.m. on a Sunday, you have a paper due tomorrow, and with an embarrassed smile to your roommate you click on the Netflix tab on your computer. Three hours pass and you’ve watched more than half a season of Friends (good job!), but you’ve written zero pages.

It’s not just you; everyone procrastinates and everyone has the same advice on how to curb it. If I hear the phrase “positive motivation” one more time, I think I might drop out. With finals coming up, here are some fresh tips to actually get your work done.

Get out of your dorm room

giphy.com
giphy.com

If you sit in a public place, you’ll feel a lot weirder about watching that seventh episode of The Office in a row. Use peer pressure and debilitating social norms to force yourself to dig into your physics homework.

Bring your textbook to the gym

giphy.com
giphy.com

Pump up your GPA while you pump iron, because you know that the “Alternative Workout Jams” playlist on Spotify just won’t cut it anymore. What could better distract you from the grueling burn of that fourth mile on the elliptical than Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics?

Go to that silent library on campus—and leave your headphones at home

giphy.com
giphy.com

It seems like a self-imposed jail sentence, right? You’ll thank yourself later when you are so beyond bored without Kendrick’s new album to listen to or the next episode of Scandal to watch that you accidentally stumble through your entire reading on Thing Theory. Boredom is a wonderful drug.

Find your strength in numbers

giphy.com
giphy.com

Hire your strongest, most intimidating friend to make sure you stay focused. Ask them to hit you when you stop doing your real work. Or ask them to give you a “surprise” Ice Bucket Challenge if you try to open up Netflix. If you have a friend who owns an air horn, bring them in on the deal, too.

Buy heavy earplugs

giphy.com
giphy.com

Do not—I repeat, do not—leave your study space when you hear your friends next door start up the nightly Shakira dance party. Block out the sounds of their bad belly dancing and laughter with a few good pieces of foam shoved in your ears. You have bigger fish—and problem sets—to fry. “This Time for Africa” will still exist tomorrow.

Turn off your phone

giphy.com
giphy.com

No, don’t just put it on silent. Warn your loved ones you’ll be “falling of the grid” for a while and hold down that power button. If you still think the temptation to scroll through your Twitter feed is too strong, take extra measures: hide it in your sock drawer, under your mattress, in the high cupboard you just can’t reach. Better yet, get your friend to hide it.

Race against time

giphy.com
giphy.com

Put a bowl of ice cream or a hot plate of nachos on the desk in front of you. It looks good, doesn’t it? Finish that final page of your term paper before it melts/gets cold, and then reward yourself with some slightly soupy Phish Food or lukewarm cheese. It’s all about positive reinforcement.

Trick yourself

giphy.com
giphy.com

Write due dates into your notebook way in advance; if you know what’s coming up, you’ll be a lot less likely to put it off. Pretend your essay is due the week before you actually have to turn it in and you might even have a rough draft (or two!) done the night before.

Take away your escape option

giphy.com
giphy.com

Put on your least comfortable shoes (you know, the ones that are a size too small that you just had to have anyway), and head out to your favorite study space. If your toes feel too pinched once you get there, feel free to take them off. Studying barefoot is NBD but walking home barefoot is an entirely different story. Writing that seven-page paper due next week won’t seem nearly as abhorrent as the thought of walking home in whatever leather/canvas/suede vice you’ve cursed upon your poor feet. Get ready to camp out.

Finally, just drop out

giphy.com
giphy.com

Yes, you read that right: just quit school. Move away from your loved ones and become a farmer. There will be no papers to procrastinate writing while you’re living on the open plain. Just please, don’t put off feeding the cows.

Shares4FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Academics Life

About Rachel Aldrich

Senior studying English at Boston College. Will always be found wearing cat socks. Still searching in vain for the world's best mac and cheese.

You May Also Like

cover photo sju si

Top 10 Best Resources Offered at St. John’s University-Staten Island

What Your Favorite Pixar Movie Says About You: College Edition

CM’s Guide to St. John’s University-Staten Island Campus

pensive

Tackling the Beast After 2020: Applying to Graduate School

CM’s Top 10 Best Pharmacy Schools in the Nation

10 Insanely Hard Classes to Avoid at Penn State

It’s Okay If Your Grades Fall Behind During a Pandemic

student typing on laptop

The Key to Surviving an Online Math Class in 2020

guy online

The Transition to Online Classes: A New Struggle or a Desirable Change? 

College Magazine’s Guide to the Engineering Major

smiling graduate

Redefining Success as a Freshman in College

Top 10 Hermione Granger Approved Colleges for Bookworms

20 Notable UConn Alumni Who Changed the World

10 Most-Loved Professors at the University of Florida

red stoplight

Reflections of a Nervous Post-Graduate

https://unsplash.com/photos/Z-ceDRi9fVU

Is There Such a Thing as Being Too Ambitious in College?

10 Invaluable Skills You Get from Learning and Working Virtually

Virtual Learning

Class Etiquette 101: The Unspoken Rules of Zoom

future teacher

CM’s Ultimate Guide to the English Education Major

How to Study for a Test When Your Roommates are Pregaming

online acting classes

The Show Must Go On: 10 Tips for Success in Online Acting Classes

aesthetic books

15 School Supplies English Majors Literature-lly Need This Fall 

tips for online classes

10 Tips for Acing Your Remote Classes This Semester

girl in graduation cap and gown standing with her back to the camera

Go Grad! 10 Ways to Beat the Graduate School Scaries

Previous Post: « When It Comes to Good Eating, Athens Has More Than You Can Chew
Next Post: 15 Pranks to Pull On April Fools’ Day »

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

99

10 St. John’s University Finals Activities to Help You De-Stress

mental health
81

Pandemic and Academic Blues: Being Aware of Your Mental Health

60

24 Ways My 2020 Survival Guide Turned into 2021 Lifestyle Habits

55

The Ultimate Auburn University Bucket List: 21 Things to Do Before Graduating

best classes
25

10 Best Classes You Need to Take at Drake University

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.