Let's Talk Procrastinating
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Well, folks- it is that time of the semester. We are three weeks into classes, which means the homework and reading we have neglected so far needs to finally be begun in earnest. Or, in other words, we really need to start figuring out what it is we are going to do to procrastinate our study time away. As students, we feel better about ourselves if we can say that we studied for a few hours on a given night. But, let’s be real- as a human being, we know it is impossible to study uninterrupted for more than let’s say…12 minutes. In general, a college student's version of studying looks something like- study a bit here, go online there for a while, study some more, take a nap, eat a snack, etc. You get the picture. I don’t have to explain it to you- there is a high likelihood you are reading this only because you could do it instead of studying. In fact, you probably were not even studying directly before this- you were probably already “on break” from studying, and found this blog while perusing Facebook. In short, if Ron Livingston’s character in Office Space is only doing about 15 minutes of actual work a week, the average college student is probably doing roughly the same. So, what is the point of this blog? It’s not a philosophical comment on students, let’s be clear. I’m just trying to help you figure out where to go to next so that you don’t have to crack open the textbook in the near future. Here are my three suggestions for things to do this semester when not doing what you are supposed to be doing, in order of how long they will keep you occupied. First Option: Howmanyofme.com Why should I do this? To further your knowledge about yourself. Or your friends. What is it? It is a database that tells you how common (or uncommon) your name is in the United States, and gives you various statistics about your name. Why will this keep me? It won’t keep you for long, but it will give you some good conversation fodder for later. Like when you are talking to your roommate instead of studying. How long can this hold my attention? The website? About five minutes. But the conversations that can spawn from it will be invaluable to your goal of not doing work. Second Option: Sporcle.com Why should I do this? Need to stimulate your brain, just not the part which is responsible for, you know, important things? Trivia is for you, and so is this website. What is it? A trivia website which has new quizzes everyday, on nearly any pop culture subject imaginable- movies, sports, TV, etc. Why will this keep me? Because people love trivia. This one doesn’t need much explanation. But, here are some of the examples of quizzes available…
How long can this hold my attention? I’d say for a good hour. If you try to push it past an hour, your performance will suffer and you will start forgetting easy answers, causing you to feel bad about yourself. Here’s a bonus for this one- it usually tires you out, so it effectively leads into a nap. Third Option: Flickchart.com Why should I do this? Got that urge to accomplish something, but know that you don’t want the something to be anything related to chemistry or English? Flickchart is for you. What is it? Flickchart is a website which allows you to rank every movie you have seen in the order of your liking. The system randomly pairs up two movies and allows for you to pick which one you prefer (if you have not seen one of the movies, it has a “Have not seen” option). Why will this keep me? Because the system randomly selects the movies for you to rate, it is really difficult to get your legitimate top movies into your top spots. For example, I had Moulin Rouge and Failure To Launch in my top 10 for a while and could not get them out. I hate both movies, but they kept getting paired up against even worse movies so I had no choice but to keep them in my top spots. You will become obsessed with the integrity of your list, and will not rest until you are satisfied. How long can this hold my attention? Days. I have rated 500+ movies and have done more than a thousand rankings- I still am not satisfied with my list. Be careful with Flickchart…remember, the idea is just to delay studying. Not to be forced to delay graduation by a semester. |
