Halloweekend came and went, and now there’s only Sunday scaries and Pollock Testing Center appointments left. You may be finding yourself cleaning your whole dorm/apartment instead of studying. Although avoiding schoolwork isn’t ideal, procrastinating productively can be a game-changer for pushing through the final weeks of the semester.
The Art of Productive Procrastination
As Lara Jean from “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” said, “My life was a mess, but I could clean my room.” Controlling the controllables is essential to making it through finals, and a clean room makes for a clear mind. Using this burst of energy to clean as inertia to start working on actual responsibilities is the ultimate goal of productive procrastination. It’s the same idea as sending that email you’ve been putting off and ending up with your assignments finished because you were in the mood to work. Your preferred procrastination method doesn’t have to be cleaning, but it should be something that gives you energy or sets you up for success.
Doing poorly on an exam doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things if you’re working toward better study methods and meeting your personal goals. VALLEY doesn’t encourage slacking in classes, but keeping yourself motivated in any way, instead of rotting in bed and scrolling online, is ideal.
Redefining Productivity
The idea that being productive must produce specific tangible results can be discouraging and even be harmful to how we experience life. Focusing on the results of an action instead of personal growth discourages experiencing life for intrinsic joy. Like Miley Cyrus says in “The Climb,” it’s about the journey, not tallying wins and losses.
When it comes to productive procrastination, sometimes it’s about alleviating stress in other areas of life to focus on the more daunting tasks. Maybe you just need to journal out stressors or dance around in your room while singing into a hairbrush. However, if you’re able to start with the largest task first, the rest will come easily.
Here are a few ideas for some productive procrastination for when you want to do anything other than your schoolwork:
Finally, clean those dishes that are piled up in the sink.
Tackle that massive pile of laundry.
Evict your dust bunnies (trust VALLEY that you probably need to.)
Reorganize your wardrobe.
Write a letter to your future self.
Journal out all your thoughts.
Clean your makeup brushes (this will help your stressed-out skin too!)
Call your parents – you know they miss you.
Get coffee with someone you’ve been meaning to catch up with.
Take a walk outside while it’s not too cold.
What’s your favorite way to productively procrastinate? Let us know @VALLEYMag on Instagram or X!
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for excellent info I was looking for this information for my mission.
Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog in Ie, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, great blog!
Perfect work you have done, this internet site is really cool with good info .
Have you ever thought about publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other blogs? I have a blog centered on the same ideas you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my audience would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an email.
I like this post, enjoyed this one thanks for posting. “I never let schooling interfere with my education.” by Mark Twain.
I was just seeking this info for some time. After six hours of continuous Googleing, at last I got it in your site. I wonder what’s the lack of Google strategy that don’t rank this type of informative websites in top of the list. Normally the top web sites are full of garbage.
Really good information can be found on web blog. “Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.” by Benjamin Franklin.
Its wonderful as your other blog posts : D, thankyou for putting up.
I like this web blog so much, saved to bookmarks. “To hold a pen is to be at war.” by Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire.
I’ve been active for a week, mostly for checking analytics, and it’s always accurate charts.