I have a Senior Thesis due in two weeks for my Economics major… so I drew a picture of this giraffe.
This is my giraffe. He has laser beam eyes.
My paper is about the Massachusetts Health Care reform and writing this thing is so… Incredibly. Dull. But you know what’s not dull??
This is a picture I drew of a polar bear cookie that I got from Starbucks… a couple of months ago.
This was the most delicious cookie I've ever had...
For me, writing long research essays happens in stages… and it’s the same thing every time.
Stage 1: Google the topic
Stage 2: Watch some of Olan Roger’svideos
Stage 3: Print out articles
Stage 5: Surf Pinterest indefinitely
Stage 6: Underline things in the articles
Stage 7: Pretend the assignment does not exist. Surf Pinterest indefinitely.
Stage 8: Solitaire
Stage 9: Make a new Pandora station
Stage 10: Begin Rough Draft
Stage 11: Make Coffee
Stage 12: Made too much coffee… can’t let it all go to waste. Use Pinterest to find a recipe to use rest of coffee.
Stage 13: Cooking is hard work. Relax and play Overlord II.
Overlord II is awesomeness wrapped in awesome. It's like Lord of the Rings.. but from Sauron's point of view. sort of.
Stage 14: Continue Rough Draft
Stage 15: Doodle things on Paint
This is probably a cowboy. I imagine he's the type of guy who rides a giraffe off into the sunset.
Stage 16: Finish Draft
Stage 17: Sleep.
Stage 18: Edit paper.
Stage 19: Stare at wall.
Stage 20: Turn something in.
Guess what time it is?? Time to play some Overlord. 😀
I Broke My Glasses Again 
Too true.
The number of things that I would do/watch/look-up to ensure that I never had to do the thing that I had to, you know, actually do is insane.
I always say that I have an MA in poli sci and youtube and I’m not really even joking.
Yeah, I don’t think I’ve written an essay in college that wasn’t coffee and youtube induced.
I’m going to be applying to law school next year, and, if I go, I’d probably have an MA in Youtube to go with my Jurisdoctorate 🙂
If it wasn’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done.
Ha! As a full-time freelance writer by profession, you can only IMAGINE the random scraps with doodles adorning my desk!
But I do believe it loosens the creative juices. Or at least that’s what I tell myself as rationalization…
😉
I relate to this. I relate to this so damn much it’s not even funny. Or maybe it is a little funny. I’ve stayed far away from Economics as a major–but I am an English major. Essays galore and all this time I need to waste.
This is very similar to my process to essay writing except I use tumblr. ❤
I have a similar process when writing essays. Cheers to multitasking! ❤
This is me. Right now. Procrastinating as I type this. Revision is a cruel thing that should not be inflicted on anyone; paint, Pinterest and YouTube help ease the pain/ignore that I have work to do/ make me forget I signed up for all this work. 🙂
I have been admitted as a Facebook Fellow myself. You could always watch Sicko and gain some inspiration?
I like seeing what other people do when trying to meet deadlines and procrastination kicks in! I agree with the copious amounts of coffee and cooking. I wrote a similar post http://banbamama.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/what-deadline/. Congrats on being freshly pressed and good luck with your essay. I am sure it will be great!
Also having a hall of 60 some other people to include in your social research makes for difficult paper writing! For me it was Quake. (I know, I’m old, Google it.) ~Regards, Dan
This is great!!!! haha!
Erica, I’m a college professor and I go through the same 20 stages you do. My students think I’m some sort of writing guru…if only they knew the truth!
Ah, youngsters today! When I needed to put off on writing assignments, I had TO TURN ON THE TV! Yeah, it was that long ago. Furthermore, It was a set WITHOUT A REMOTE, so I really had to work at procrastinating. 🙂
Haha! The ironic thing is I have a paper due tomorrow and I’m just surfin’ WordPress 🙂
so much truth. once i watched ten things i hate about you and she’s the man to help me write essays for a course on shakespeare. the essays were not on the merchant of venice or twelfth night. proud moments.
I know exactly what you mean!
I totally have Firefly or Tron or Gilmore Girls running in the background while I write! It may not help the writing process that much, but it makes essays a bit more bearable 🙂 I might have to stop that, though, because the tone of my essays tend to match the tone of the movie that’s playing… It ends up a bit weird…
Just imagine this (and it’s true): I gotta make an essay for the Uni… with other 10 people!!… our research has all those stages x 11 lol!! good luck wtih your next essay!
Uh! I hate group essays! There always seems to be that one person that doesn’t do anything! Best of luck to you!
I’m just happy that half the things you mentioned weren’t around when I was in college. I would have never gotten out of there!
Unbridled honesty. That’s nice.
But it’s a very impressive cowboy. Worth putting off your essay for.
Love the giraffe! You forgot Stage 4…maybe you were not focused? 😉
Yup, this sounds like me. I can’t tell you how happy I was to graduate.
The one time I actually didn’t procrastinate like this was during a hellish pre-finals-week week when I had a presentation due Monday and papers due Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I am still proud of the fact that I finished each paper a day before it was due. Nothing so amazing had happened before, nor has it happened since.
Good luck with your thesis!
Wow, that is amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever finished early… lol. I’m pretty good at finishing on time, though.
Thanks, by the way, for the luck. I actually just got my thesis grade back, and I did quite well.
Congrats! I didn’t realize until after I commented that this post is actually from a month and a half ago, haha!
My life!! Got my 20000 word honours dissertation coming up soon… procrastination to the max!
A writer I once knew had a technique for luring herself to her desk first thing ….. she’d make a really, really tasty bacon sandwich the night before, wrap it in foil, and place it carefully on top of her computer last thing at night…..she swore it worked.
Really funny post. Most reassuring!
PINTEREST. Time-stealer!
Thanks for the laugh. I’m long past procrastinating from writing my thesis, but now that I write professionally, I find lots of ways to procrastinate — like reading WordPress’ Freshly Pressed blogs (how I found yours). I love, love, love the picture you did of the giraffe. Good luck with the thesis, but if that all doesn’t work out, you have a future in whimsical art.
LOL and to think that I found this gem while distracting myself from writing something that needs to get written.. by the end of today (today continues till midnight right?) yeah, still have plenty of time.
Amazing – i feel like i have just read an article about myself. I have done an exam at uni today which i am utterly amazed i was prepared for the amount i procrastinated. except with me i make things like dresses instead of the video game! lol xxx
BTW i meant to add,
I love your doodles! very talented 😀
I would say you should work on your thesis, but I’ve been guilty of doing the same thing during reading assignments.
Number four is missing. But other than that, isn’t that how everyone writes papers?
You forgot the part where you check “word count” 15 million times despite not having written anything new!
Mmmm, a good solution to this would be to block some websites or to write the outline of your thesis on paper and then going to the library to type it down?
That’s what works for me 🙂
ps: nice drawings!
Hahaha loving this – this is my exact same distraction technique too!!
Brilliant 🙂
I read blogs.
I’m just finishing uni and I was SO GLAD when I handed my last essay in (an 8,000 word dissertation whopper). I can now indefinitely surf pinterest guilt-free in the evenings, and it feels gooooood 🙂
So how did your Senior Thesis go! I bet wonderful.
First of all, I would like to say your doodles are so cute. 🙂
It happens to me each time! I’m a freelance article writer and I get to complete all my article assignments at home. For some, working at the comfort of your own house is bliss. But for me, it has to be otherwise; because I have tons of distractions hovering me! When I write articles, I also go over some phases you mentioned from your own process except that I get stuck on Tetris all the time. And like you, I also pretend that my writing jobs don’t exist. Lol.
But you know what, having some forms of leeway while writing is okay. It’s actually recommended. However, I learned quite clearly from my own experiences that we should do such in moderation. 🙂
My 14 year old daughter said (when I read this out loud, laughing), “Um, I think that the cowboy should be riding the giraffe off into the sunset while eating polar bear cookies. Yeah.” And then she laughed at how you missed Step 4 (because you were not focused, OBVIOUSLY). You would be Miss Princess of Procrastination at our house and get a glittery pipe cleaner tiara. True story.
Great writing!
Good luck with the Boooooooring essay. I remember those days!
This only proves you are well rounded. An important life quality that will extend well beyond college. Great post.
So very true!
As a fellow college student, I can completely relate. Especially when it comes to Pinterest! lol Great post
So maybe you won’t get an “A” on your paper. BUT you’re a GREAT doodler! I Love your giraffe w/ the laser beam eyes! Most people would rather see your cool pics than read through a long thesis anyway….. I think. 🙂
All great minds procrastinate…
At least, that is what I tell myself.
And no doubt you fly though in the end! You deserve to after entertaining us with this post.
My proudest moment when it came to procrastination was when I was 2 essays due two days apart, and I had done several of the first stages (research, Facebook, huge amounts of coffee and chocolate, big nights out) but had not written a single word and then sat in bed the morning each was due, and smashed them out in 3 hours each. And I didnt fail, so my theory is that all the first steps allow you to mull over the information. Conversely I was doing this awful group presentation and did tonnes of work but failed because I did tonnes of work along with my Facebook, but the rest of my group clearly didn’t get a mulling thing. Now I am supposed to be study for the exam to redeem that mark… go figure. Great post!
I find myself doing the same thing. Only for me, it’s the process I go through to grade my students’ essays. There is a lot of Facebook time and a lot of coffee involved!
Once I tried to actually sit down and write an essay.
2 hours later, I was naked in the bottom of a well as a bald eagle tossed golf balls at me and I honestly couldn’t tell where anything changed.
Even though I love writing, I seem to do anything to avoid it sometimes!
Agree with techgirl99 – all great minds do procrastinate lol.. So very true, have a 5000 word essay on defining emotion and I find in between surfing the net, Facebook and coffee breaks I am defining everything but emotion..
hmm…write now I too am supposed to be writing an essay but I guess I am stage 7 on your list.
There is too much truth to this. The amount of times that I have tried to sit down and not get distracted by the millions of time-wasting, yet thoroughly entertaining aspects of the Internet, is unbelievable. It’s funny how fast time goes when you’re scrolling through endless pages, but try and write just one page of my own, and I think every single clock in my house simultaneously malfunctions, and time ticks by slower than ever. Good to see I’m not alone though!
this is HILARIOUS!!! brings me back to my college days… so guilty of this. not like it has ended though…i still do this at work!!!
Reading that reminded me of myself. I’m the biggest procrastinator I know and I’m going into my 4th year of college. I think this is a habit that’s going to always be with us for the long run.
Hell, yeah, Overlord! I have the first and second games, and although I have gotten absolutely nowhere in either of them (I love games, but I can’t play ’em), I still laugh maniacally every time I get to slaughter things.
Like sheep. Oh how I laughed the first time I found out what I could do to a field full of innocent sheep. I actually like killing them more than the villagers. At least the sheep don’t whine.
Also, I love it when my minions find ‘hats’.
Also, you have now taken 3 seconds to read this reply instead of writing your essay. Yay! I contributed!
When I found out that the game has you destroy pandas and baby seals I geeked out! My roommates thought I had gone crazy, and the only way I could really explain it was, “Well, I’m an Overlord and I have to destroy them!” Lol, they gave me a legit judgement look.
Lol, all time spent procrastinating is a good time 🙂
Rapunzel waited for a guy skilled in the art of parkour to find her true love. Sleeping Beauty waited for a kiss. Cinderella settled for a guy with a shoe. I’m waiting for the guy who sees me laughing maniacally while playing one of these games who does not give me that “legit judgement look.” I know it well, for I love to play evil bastard characters. I played an undead warlock in WoW and enjoyed inflicting suffering in BGs and on villages of low-level NPCs who dared to annoy me on the way up. When I played The Sims, my first days were filled with finding every way possible to kill a Sim, starting with the fastest and working my way into ever more slow and elaborate deaths. Yes, one day I will meet a man who sees me doing just that and says “wait, are you destroying the lives of helpless innocents in this game? And their village? That is so hot.” I’m pretty sure that at that point, our eyes will meet, birds will start singing,and as dramatic music bursts into likfe in the background, we will know that in each other, we have found our soulmate.
(Note: time spent writing comment: 2 minutes. Time spent editing comment: 5 minutes. Time spent googling trying to remember the word ‘parkour’: 6 minutes. time spent watching parkour videos before returning to finish up comment by inserting the word ‘parkour’: 15 minutes. Time spent getting distracted by wingsuit videos linked off the parkour videos before returning to finish up comment by inserting the word ‘parkour’: another 15 minutes. Am I a pro yet?)
You’re right– a guy like that would certainly steal my heart too. If I were a damsel in distress, I probably wouldn’t notice until the internet connection cut off.
Playing the evil guy is so much fun! In OddWorld: Abbe’s Odessy you have the option of reigning down tons of destruction while still progressing through the plot… I love it. I play Forsaken World too, and, in that game, you can’t play a “bad” guy… unfortunately. They did a good job compensating for the lack of bad-guy characters to choose from, though. They have this “bard-elf” type of character that is like a mage with a harp– and it’s too cool! It totally appeals to the countless band classes I sat through in high school!
Reblogged this on I was just thinking……..
Seems I’m not so crazy after all. I thought it was just me. Just replace the doodling with playing with the dog (someone’s gotta throw his ball, right?), and the making coffee with making a cup of tea, and add in taking a stroll to the mail box or pulling itty-bitty weeds in the vegetable garden, and you are me. Even the Pintrest and Pandora fits, too. Thanks for making me feel normal today. 🙂
It’s like you’re telling the story of my life 🙂
I love your giraffe with laser beam eyes. Created with Paint, I suppose?
And I can totally relate to Stage 8: Solitaire. Procrastination comes in a few forms for me, also including YouTube.
Can I mention again that I love your giraffe with laser beam eyes? 😉
As a professional procrastinator, I bow to your methodological excellence.
This is exactly what I’m doing now as I write my final papers. Except I bond with Netflix instead. At least you got a nice blog post and freakin Freshly Pressed out of it. Turns out to be very useful procrastination.
Congrats on making it to ‘Freshly Pressed’!
My thesis was dull too but my advisor is what kept me from working on it. She would make me do so many re-writes that I lost my will to live after a few months with her! Oh how I started to hate the sight of the thesis draft! I just knew she would make me re-write at least half of the work I had done since I saw her last. Lord knows how I managed to finish it at all!
Hilarious, and so true. It reminds me of what I do to avoid working out.
Oh gosh, I feel like I could have written something similar when I first made the transition from a full-time office-bound job to working from home. It’s just too darn easy to something, anything else, isn’t it?? Anyway, enjoyed the blog as well as the pictures, and congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
I know exactly how you feel except I can’t do wonderful drawings like you. Love your blog.
Simply brilliant illustration of diversions… and now you’ll have more being freshly freshly pressed! – Best, Renee
Interesting advice !!! I wonder if they can finish something if these are followed…
Great post. This is really a good work. I appreciate your efforts behind that.
Anything is distracting if you let it be so.
Nice Ideas described, Thanks 4 sharing 🙂
Work, work, work. Don’t be a slouch.
procrastination at its finest!
I can totally relate – although somewhat reversed. As a teacher I spend my life procrastinating so I don’t have to mark the essays my students spend hours procrastinating and then writing haha.
One could also practice one’s skills in writing limericks, or maybe spend some time googling various Norwegians one met on Corsica some three years ago. It’s amazing how much stuff one can actually find, taxable incomes and stuff like that.
I am addicted to Paintbrush on mac (basically the same as MS Paint). Perfectly simple.
Reblogged this on doodlejuice and commented:
Excellent.
Oh My that is great! I think it’s the same with students everywhere now in this day and age – a bit of work mixed in with a lot of ‘surfing’ – it’s great fun! Great and very entertaining post! Thanks for keeping me distracted in class 😛
“…I have a Senior Thesis due in two weeks for my Economics major… so I drew a picture of this giraffe…” That says it all 🙂 But the creativity never stops as I read the entire blog and it left me smiling. Gosh it has happened after ages; and for that Dear Erica, I am grateful to you. Please keep writing. You have such a gift.
Reblogged this on Healthy living and commented:
this is so funny
I know I’m in procrastination mode when I get the insane urge to do vacuuming and clean the bathroom.
awwwwww…we’ve all been there:p took me back all those years..i usually drew the pink panther or daffy duck:p
I find it very hard to concentrate at times, it’s like even the walls are more entertaining, lol. I’ve caught myself watching the nothingness more than once in test periods. hah
Mind checking my blog? I just started and would love some feedback on the topic i picked for it
I didn’t know essay writing could be so much fun!
I feel you. Not counting all the other stuff that I do while trying to work on my essays I think my problem is that I actually spent more time on calculating and planning how to get them done in time than writing them…
But then, my level of getting my major done is somewhere near the subsection of the hell’s seventh level -63256 steps before your list in a weird wonderland of pizza-rainbow-coke-Cthulhu-sweat-mix puking unicorns called THE high school.
I’m going to die young aren’t I?
im going through the same phase! 😛
Reblogged this on Scribbles.
I would add: Do not give yourself an incentive to complete by a deadline.
Every writer has his or her own process. It happens to the best of us. Hah!
Nice post. I enjoyed read your blog today. Good Luck!
Hilarious and immensely helpful! I think I’m all set to write some serious stuff! You make it sound like so much fun! 😛 Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
Replace “Pinterest” with “Youtube” and you’ve basically written out my daily schedule.
step 21: get an A on said paper, celebrate with more overlord.
lol 🙂
i only wish i could handle coffee drinking…caffeine makes me all shaky and bug-eyed. but otherwise, i’m right there with you. and your giraffe is awesome
I’d like to see that cowboy on a giraffe. They don’t need to ride into a sunset. But they need to be together.
somwhow you remind me of myself -_-
Reblogged this on My Dreams and The Reality.
Finally a Freshly Pressed post mentioning the wonderful, adorabubble Olan Rogers!!! (I tweeted this post for that reason alone!) Love your mad paint skills, Madame Erica!!
Very useful tips for students
Your doodles are awesome. you should just be a professional doodler I too create random pandora stations when I’m bored Although when did Pandora start sharing them? A friend saw “I wanna sex you up” radio while playing call of duty
Thanks for the giggle…
I really loved your drawing the giraffe is adorable.
this is brilliant ! I remember when writing my thesis it was much the same story with lots of random wandering around the house and cuddling the cat half to death ! :p Was looking over some old lecture notes the other day , half of it consists of pictures drawn by myself or other classmates , oh the joys of Uni !
very compelling humor and wonderful pics of giraffe and Polar Bear Cookie (can’t decide which one I like better).
Nice site.
Too true…seriously about Pinterest…indefinitely is right.
Reblogged this on The LP Record and commented:
Ok. Now try to imagine what you would do before there was The Internet? When I was in college (and I’m not ancient — I still get carded at bars — sometimes), we had not even heard of a World Wide Web, only Macs had mice, and we used Word Perfect on an MS-DOS operating system. However, we also couldn’t broadcast what we did for fun. We didn’t even have cellphones. So we had to hang out at the quad or go to the library with pockets full of change and stand over copy machines in hot, sweaty fluorescent lit rooms in order to meet people and find out where everyone was hanging out while they procrastinated, so we procrastinated with lots of other people, and we did some wild and crazy things that no one ever tools pictures of or broadcasted around the world. We never made the evening news. I think I miss those days.
Haha…I haven’t written a paper in a long time. I had to do some research for a presentation but no paper. However, this is funny! I definitely understand your humorous plight, especially when it comes to those topics that you’re not quite that enthusiastic about. I enjoyed reading your post 🙂
You have an excellent writing method. I’m sure it will take you far. My method includes much of the above with the addition of frequent naps.
My university life in a nutshell except Pinterest didn’t exist so I would insert *Youtube* there
It is weird how this sounds familiar. I do creative writing or drawing in between the pages of my papers too. It is just too easy! You are hilarious!
Reblogged this on livingleanandinthegreen and commented:
Haha! I do the exact same thing when working on an essay or large school project. I can totally relate! ^_^
Every time I went home with a paper to write during college my parents would flip out on me because of how much I write a little, do something “distracting”, and back and forth. I got them done though! 🙂 Great post, congrats on Freshly Pressed!
ha ha..nice!
Yeah right! ahaha. Now this gave me a helluvalaugh! 😀
haha I’m in my final year too, thankfully all my essays are done and dusted, I just have exams now but it can be soo hard to focus!
enjoyed reading this post! 😀
LOL!!! You just spoke my mind! I think everyone has done this at some point in their lives!
Haha…nice dedicated routine to compose a write-up.. 🙂
Guess it’s the same for almost everything about work as well..
Hahahah yes! This is the absolute story of my life.
I read this post and left this comment instead of working on the 8, 500 words I have due in two weeks. Time for pinterest….
I did exactly the same things while studying for my AP tests this year. At least you learn interesting new things while you procrastinate! Pinterest really does have some fabulous recipes…
I forgot what i was going to say.
lol, it happens to the best of us!
This applies to so many students in the world. Thank you, internet. 😀
Reblogged this on Just Go! and commented:
How not to stay focused when writing an essay. Who knew MS Paint skills were such a curse! We’re pretty impressed by the pictures though, that’s real talent!
This is hilarious! LOL. I love the Stage 7 “pretend the assignment does not exist.” Hahaha!!! This is so true, sort of similar to my own writing process. 🙂
Wow, that is basically how I write an essay!
1. Wikipedia topic
2. Play Risk
3. Write some basic facts
4. Cook/Clean/Do the Washing
5. Draft…
6. Sleeeeeeeep
7. Play Risk/Facebook/Youtube
8. Panic
9. Give Up
10. Cry
11. Finish essay
12. Cry
13. Hand In
14. Pub!
Hey really enjoyed your reading! very funny!
I’m new to wordpress and I’m actually scouting for followers lol. check my blog out! x
Love it!
This is basically how I spend my work day at the office (sans “Overlord”). I’ve heard that studies show it’s good to take “mental breaks”. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!
🙂
Good luck on surviving your thesis – MoSop
Heh, heh. Great post.I had to write four analytical essays for my Honors Comp II class, and thought I was going to go mad. I would begin researching Kafka (who I adore), but found myself searching for various ways to fry chocolate online…or placing bets on ebay for obscure goggles. So many distractions….
Oh, to be young and procrastinate.
Oh wait, I still do that.
Ahhhh…. the wonders of college. I remember those days. For me, the last step is frantically pulling my hair out the night before while stationed in front of my laptop for hours trying to finish the paper.
Reblogged this on Runnymede Residents Community Web Site and commented:
for all you students working hard to complete your exams. Good Luck.
awesome girrafe…(not sure if i spelled that right… im more of the math type) how about adding wordpress activity?