3 Great Reasons to Procrastinate

Let’s face it: when you sit down to write that five-page paper on the comparisons and contrasts between the Women’s Rights and Feminist movements, you’re not going to jam it all out within an hour’s time – unless of course you’ve procrastinated to the point that you have just an hour left before the deadline. In that case, stop reading this, and start writing your paper. If you still have plenty of time to get your homework done, check this out: it’s ok to procrastinate. In fact, it’s perfectly normal and necessary to the paper-writing, exam-cramming process. Now, there’s a difference between putting homework assignments off until the last minute and planning out your workload in a timely fashion to make room for breaks. We’re advocating the latter and suggesting that college students do the following in order to work hard and play a little. Procrastinate to make friends. This method of procrastination is especially helpful for college freshmen or transfer students. If you’re on the way to the library, ask your dorm neighbors if they want to grab a cup of coffee and then study. Or if you’ve been toiling away in the library for hours, head down to the coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up, and use this as an opportunity to meet other students. Procrastinate for your health. Too much of any one thing is bad – work, food, exercise; you get the picture. That’s why it isn’t healthy to attend class all, and then jump right into studying for the rest of the day. You need a break. With that, take a walk, spend time at the gym, take a nap. But just like studying, make sure you’re not devoting too much of your break time to that one thing. You just need a half hour or an hour; then it’s back to hitting the books! Procrastinate for your sense of humor. A procrastination break doesn’t always need to take a half hour or hour. It can just be 10 minutes, and there’s no better place to lose yourself for 10 minutes than the Internet. We recommend Buzzfeed. It’s just about the only place online where you can catch up on the serious news of the day as well as find out which Disney Princess you’re most like (seriously, those Buzzfeed quizzes pull you in). And if you’re looking for a few laughs, just search for cat videos on YouTube. They’re all the rage right now. Procrastination doesn’t have to lead you down a dark rabbit hole in which time passes all too quickly, and you emerge only to find that your paper is due in 20 minutes. When used appropriately, it can be a great tool in giving your mind the rest it needs to take on the rest of the day – or night – in the library. So before you take the time to finish your term paper, take the time to procrastinate a little too.