To Consider During Those Times You Just Can’t Do Anything

(An introspective look into student life & how to overcome the dread of not doing anything)

Hi,
As this is a blog written by a student for students, I feel an important part of the student life is taking breaks. Maybe you’ve read my last post about Lurie and how to write copy. He’s a professional (and old!) and he said to take a break so it must be true. But “take breaks” is obvious, overdone, overplayed. “Take breaks” is the “drink water” of “how to get rid of acne” threads. So why blog about it?

Here’s the thing, sometimes you just feel like you can’t. Can’t do school, can’t do fun stuff. Even if you’re not doing anything; except opening and closing various apps for an hour straight, you just can’t put pen to paper. It’s frustrating. You know this thing (a paper, a project, a quiz) is due soon but you have so many things you’d rather do instead. So what do you do? You do nothing. Stuck in the depressing student-limbo between “but I can’t do [thing I want to do] because I need to do this schoolwork!” and “but I just can’t bring myself to do this schoolwork”.

So how do you break this slump? (all tips provided from personal experience)

• Do something else. If you have three projects due, try working on the one you find the most interesting. Tbh, do something unrelated if you need a brain-break. In example, instead of writing my next blog (#comingsoon), I’m doing this lol

• Take it in chunks. Hey, doing one question in a 20-question worksheet is better than zero

• Change your location. Literally sit in an open area at a school or cafe. Make sure your back is NOT to a wall. The social pressure to actually do work when you know people can glance to see what you’re doing is immense (imo)

• Reward yourself. Do something that makes you happy after you break through the rut and do something. A reward doesn’t need to be saved for finishing a whole paper! Reward yourself for finishing a page

• Make plans with friends. Seems counter-intuitive, huh? Here’s the thing, make plans to hang out with your friends but if you make it for 6pm, get there at at LEAST 5pm. In the time you’re waiting for them, knock out some schoolwork. Plus, when your friend walks up you look so good because (a) you’re early and (b) you look like you have your life together

• Power through. Arguably the least fun option. Regardless, sometimes you just need to do it. Think of it as the HIT (high-intensity) workout but schoolwork. Go hard, knock it out, be done. (sometimes this is unrealistic but it’s an option)

• Just save it. Worst comes to worst, do it tomorrow. Unless it’s due tonight, there’s no harm in taking a mental health day to just do things that make you happy

Overall, literally just do anything. I don’t care if you bake a cake, go shopping, vacuum, write a blog post, or whatever! By doing anything you’re being productive and that’s good. Break out of this “do nothing” rut by doing anything! Any sense of feeling productive has the chance to pull you out of your productivity slump.

Note: I know that for people with depression & chronic illnesses, it’s not as easy for y’all. Don’t worry about the tips above! If you’re really struggling, linked below is a image & blog about the spoon theory. If you’ve never heard of it, I’d highly recommend you check it out. Even if you’re not depressed/chronically ill, I’d recommend.

Remember: You got this 💪

If this helped, leave a like or comment! Also, I’d really like to hear your tips for how to get things done when you feel bad so leave those in the comments too!
New post coming soon; stay tuned!

References:

Gifford, B. (2019, March 8). What is Spoon Theory?. Retrieved from https://happiful.com/what-is-the-spoon-theory/