{"id":2364,"date":"2019-04-08T10:03:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T10:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/my-phd-journey-and-the-art-of-procrasti-baking\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T06:37:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T06:37:04","slug":"my-phd-journey-and-the-art-of-procrasti-baking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/my-phd-journey-and-the-art-of-procrasti-baking","title":{"rendered":"My PhD journey and the art of procrasti-baking"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s summer 2012. I\u2019m in my last undergraduate year and the pressure is mounting. Finals are approaching and we\u2019ve all taken up residence in the central university library. My flatmate is living on takeaways and I can\u2019t remember the last time I did any laundry. I\u2019ve even seen one person asleep behind a set of shelves next to a half-eaten pizza. This is a pivotal moment in my academic life, although not in the way you might assume. Yes, these exams are important, but even more than this, this is the summer that saw me become a fully-fledged member of the Procrastinators Anonymous. <\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s right, I\u2019m comfortable enough to admit it now.<\/p>\n

I am a procrastinator. <\/p>\n

\u201cOk, well, so what?\u201d I imagine similar sentiments might be occurring to you right now. Maybe even, \u201cwell so am I.\u201d I think it\u2019s a rare breed of person that has never experienced the amazing (and often exceptionally creative) lengths we are sometimes capable of taking to avoid doing what we should actually be doing. For my part, I have honed expert procrastination skills over the years, but the most recent talent I\u2019ve developed is that of procrastibaking. Biscuits, cakes, pies; when confronted with a deadline, I\u2019ve made \u2018em all. I\u2019ve even indulged, once or twice, in what I like to call \u201cexperimental procrastibaking.\u201d This is when you not only lack the correct ingredients to make that cake, tart or pastry, but you also lack the motivation to go out and buy those correct ingredients, so you mix a random assortment of items together and hope it all comes out ok. A defining moment on my experimental procrastibaking journey so far: not having eggs, butter or sugar in the cupboard and still feeling confident that I would be able to create an apple crumble. <\/p>\n

A PROCRASTIBAKER\u2019S JOURNEY\u2026 IN PICTURES<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Default<\/p>\n

May 2012.<\/strong> A truly momentous day in the life of a procrastinator; the first results of an unintentional procrastibaking session (note the presence of my laptop, probably to try to suggest actual, real academic work is being done).<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

\"Default<\/p>\n

June 2012.<\/strong> I don\u2019t remember too much about the events that lead to this photo being taken, but I imagine that this was an experimental procrastibaking session (maybe even the first one) as there is a distinct lack of baking having occurred here. Definitely 10\/10 for presentation.<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

\"Default<\/p>\n

April 2015.<\/strong> Interestingly, my transition to Master’s study also seems to have coincided with better procrastibaking effort all round. I\u2019m quite proud of the uniformity of these brownies, although I\u2019m not sure why I have put basil on the top. I\u2019m also a bit concerned by the presence of the gin in this picture; I have a sneaking suspicion that I might have tried adding some to the mixture. I have no memory of making these brownies, so maybe that\u2019s why.<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

\"Default<\/p>\n

June 2015<\/strong> (thanks instagram!). How else do you deal with an impending linguistics thesis deadline? Ignore the library and make cookie monster cupcakes, of course!<\/em>
\n <\/p>\n

In a classic PhD-style move, I have attempted to analyse why this particular choice of work avoidance has stuck with me longer than some other techniques. Probably unsurprisingly the \u201cintensive kitchen-cleaning\u201d habit I developed during my undergraduate finals didn\u2019t last too long; definitely a good thing reflecting on the amount of cleaning fluids I used to use, and no doubt also to inhale, I have come to the conclusion that baking is, in some way, an attempt to assuage guilt about my lack of productivity by engaging in another activity which also has a final end product… albeit, one less likely to be accepted by an academic journal.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure the sense of culpability I describe above is not unfamiliar to many of you. Certainly, I would even go as far to suggest that the self-motivated nature of PhD study heightens these emotions. You can\u2019t blame your colleagues, manager or company software for a day of unproductivity. And that is often a very guilt-inducing state of mind to find yourself in.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s where I\u2019d like to go a little bit rogue. I think a healthy dose of procrastination (every once in a while) is actually good <\/em>for us. I believe we should all learn to embrace our inner procrastibakers (or procrastinetflixers, or procrasticleaners, whatever the avenue of choice), and here\u2019s why: <\/p>\n