5 Best Ways to Procrastinate in College

I live on the National Merit floor of the dorms at the University of Oklahoma, which has been aptly nicknamed the “Professional Procrastinators” floor. During finals week, we actually post a list of all our combined ideas to ensure maximum success in our procrastination efforts.

I’m here to share with you some of our expertise to avoid studying for that test you have coming up. The following are the most time-consuming methods of procrastination we’ve found (they work especially well the night before your morning exam):

1. Do homework. While this may seem a little counterintuitive, it can actually use a lot of time. You don’t need to stop at the assignments due this week; you can keep going endlessly on papers that aren’t due for half a semester (which will be a pleasant surprise when you’re forced to stop procrastinating and actually write those later). As an added bonus, there’s less of a guilt factor when utilizing this particular form of procrastination.

2. Clean your room. And I don’t mean just picking up all the dirty clothes so you can see the floor again, I mean really clean it. Sweep your floors, wash your dishes, wipe away that inch-thick layer of just under your bed — any household chores you’ve been neglecting are sure to take up a good bit of your afternoon.

3. Take a nap. You’re a sleep-deprived student. You deserve to get some rest every now and then to catch up on all that sleep you’ve been missing. Now is as good a time as any to get started. Be careful not to set an alarm though, or you could be waking yourself up with an hour of study time still left.

4. Surf the web. You had to know this was coming; you can get lost for hours online. You can log onto Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or just watch useless videos on YouTube. (My suggestion: something with a catchy tune that will get stuck in your head to the point that you couldn’t possibly think about your test material.) Even better, you can claim to be doing something productive, like writing an article for PolicyMic. (If you couldn’t tell, I’m engaging in this practice right now. It’s working fantastically.)

5. Go to the gym. Working out is good for everyone, especially people who are as stressed out as college students usually are. Besides, you have to pay a fee for the on-campus gym whether you use it or not, so you might as well see the inside at least once.  Even if you’ve never been to a gym in your life, it’s a surefire way to spend an hour of study time. Plus, you’ll have to take a long, hot shower when you get back to recover from all the exercising you just did, which can give you another 45 minutes of successful procrastination.