What is your weirdest time-wasting guilty pleasure?

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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hygebeorht

hygebeorht

radiology is best ology
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As students working toward vet school and vet school students, we don't have a lot of time to waste. Our days are packed from go to whoa, usually with no down time between when we wake up and when our heads hit the pillow at night.

NEVERTHELESS, our brains need breaks, and I have found that if I don't give my brain a break, it will take one anyway, usually during something I need to pay attention to!

So sometimes I wind up doing something a little weird, fun but thoughtless, and I look up and realize I've spent an hour looking at stupid catalogs for example. This is aside from the deliberate break time of playing games, reading, watching TV, or whatever that we frequently allow for ourselves.

So what are some of the weird things I do to give my brain a break? There are a few...

I like wandering around on Craigslist just to see what's out there. I also like to cook, and sometimes if I have a big project or exam coming up, I clean the house. It's mindless and the results are immediate!

And yeah, I do love looking at Uniform Advantage catalogs, and any other catalogs for that matter. I know prints can be unprofessional but I just love all their scrub patterns!
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hygebeorht said:
As students working toward vet school and vet school students, we don't have a lot of time to waste. Our days are packed from go to whoa, usually with no down time between when we wake up and when our heads hit the pillow at night.

NEVERTHELESS, our brains need breaks, and I have found that if I don't give my brain a break, it will take one anyway, usually during something I need to pay attention to!

So sometimes I wind up doing something a little weird, fun but thoughtless, and I look up and realize I've spent an hour looking at stupid catalogs for example. This is aside from the deliberate break time of playing games, reading, watching TV, or whatever that we frequently allow for ourselves.

So what are some of the weird things I do to give my brain a break? There are a few...

I like wandering around on Craigslist just to see what's out there. I also like to cook, and sometimes if I have a big project or exam coming up, I clean the house. It's mindless and the results are immediate!

And yeah, I do love looking at Uniform Advantage catalogs, and any other catalogs for that matter. I know prints can be unprofessional but I just love all their scrub patterns!
Click to expand...

I definitely clean. Deep Clean. Everything. Or watch animal planet, go on here, amazon, craigslist, watch documentaries, or make lists! Almost every time my mind wanders in class it's to make a list. (to-do, shopping, practice schedule, etc)
 
I like shopping, but I shop for other people. Sending care packages is cathartic.

My SO is retired military and we like to travel to different installations to waste time. If we can we make it an overnight trip.

My other guilt is............ ordering stuff from QVC. :oops:

SDN is quickly surpassing my Facebook addiction; more time wasted.

And how could I forget my weekly pilgrimage to Costco. Moving to rural Kansas never hurt so bad :( not a Costco for 100 miles. I'll spend $100 a week there if I'm not careful.
 
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Reddit. Not very weird, but a HUGE waste of time!
 
My boyfriend is addicted to Reddit. I mean ADDICTED. Stage 4 in the link above, no exaggeration. Spends a bare minimum of 5-6 hours a day on it. It irritates the hell out of me.
 
These aren't that weird but they are procrastination methods of choice.

I look at Buzzfeed all the time when I should be doing more productive things on the internet.

I love Target - I can go there for one thing and wander around for about a hour buying all kinds of stuff I really didn't need. I used to live by one and would literally be there every other day. Now it's about a 30 minute drive so I'm not going as much.
 
macita183 said:
I love Target - I can go there for one thing and wander around for about a hour buying all kinds of stuff I really didn't need. I used to live by one and would literally be there every other day. Now it's about a 30 minute drive so I'm not going as much.
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Target is the one place I can go into looking for 1-2 things and come out two cardloads and $200 dollars later thinking "what the hell just happened?"
 
SDN and pinterest. I avoided pinterest for the longest time, but there are such great craft ideas, and recipes, and gardening tips. I love it. Oh and lots of tips on how to save money around the home.
 
SDN and cleaning.

Ill cruise through threads that are not relevant to me.. And really, I hate when there is a thread on the first page that is dark blue vs the light blue of the ones I've already looked at... So of course to get rid of all the dark blue ones I look at the other threads lol. I am kind of OCD about colors lol
 
I used to talk to my fish a couple of times. He(she) was a very good listener.
 
Hehe. Tumblr.

Lots of Tumblr. It's a scary place, sometimes.

I need to learn how to use Reddit. Oh, and I watch a lot of random TV (Criminal Minds, Monk, Bones, etc).
 
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I spend hours sometimes filling my online book shopping carts with desired reading materials, only to sigh and close the window, not saving anything since I can't actually afford $$$$ worth of books anyway. :cry::cry:

Still, reading excerpts makes me happy :)
 
I bake a lot if I really want to waste time. I also have a tendency to watch Spongebob and Seinfeld, which are so conveniently on in the evenings when I get home from school. :oops:
 
Food Network. Since I no longer have a TV in my room, I tend to spend a lot of time playing games on Facebook. My latest addictions are SongPop & Candy Crush. And Words with Friends of course.

I can't seem to get on board with Pinterest. And I do love me some CollegeHumor. Good ol' Jake & Amir.
 
Reddit. Tumblr. Tastespotting (and associated cooking afterward). SDN (obviously). Watching Corner Gas and My Little Pony over and over again. I occasionally watch cooking shows online (Chopped :love:) but don't really watch "real" TV.

I wish I were a compulsive cleaner when I was bored - would sure make the place look a lot nicer. :rolleyes:
 
i like to curl my hair when i'm bored.

and i'm sort of masochistic so i like picking at bruises, hang nails, etc.

AND tumblr!
 
hygebeorht said:
, and sometimes if I have a big project or exam coming up, I clean the house. It's mindless and the results are immediate!
Click to expand...

This. A million times this. During undergrad, my roommates could always tell when I had a paper due or an exam because they would come home to a spotless apartment. And I always explained it pretty much the same way as you: it's mindless, but productive!
 
OwlandPussycat said:
Reddit. Not very weird, but a HUGE waste of time!
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Sometimes I think "Ok, I am going to go on Reddit for a little bit and then go to bed." 3 hours later I'm kicking myself for wasting so much time!
 
Trilt said:
I wish I were a compulsive cleaner when I was bored - would sure make the place look a lot nicer. :rolleyes:
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Me too! My house is a disaster 98% of the time.

I have a huge problem with Netflix. I grew up with only 3 channels on TV and we were allowed to watch 1, sometimes 2 programs a night. And occasionally stay up with the parents watching the news.

Now that I have access to thousands of movies/tv shows I just can't stop watching. I'll start watching something at 7pm, promise myself to go to bed at 9pm and then suddenly it's 1am and I have to be up in 4 hours! :smack:
 
wolfspeaker said:
Now that I have access to thousands of movies/tv shows I just can't stop watching. I'll start watching something at 7pm, promise myself to go to bed at 9pm and then suddenly it's 1am and I have to be up in 4 hours! :smack:
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It really doesn't help that they helpfully start the next episode for you. I actually contacted their customer service about making it an option to turn this feature off. My willpower is pretty weak in this area, and having to stop a new episode from playing vs. voluntarily starting a new episode seems to be the tipping point for me.
 
I go to the local rod and gun club to practice my archery skills.
 
hygebeorht said:
How the heck do you pick at a bruise?
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with bruises i just apply a lot of pressure on it over and over again. poor choice of words on my part. i just like to fuss with areas that hurt and probably shouldn't be fussed with....i just like the feeling.
 
swingnsave said:
I definitely clean. Deep Clean. Everything.
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pretty much the only time i clean my room or do laundry is when i'm procrastinating. i get into my head that i simply cannot study if my room is a mess, even though that's a total lie.

i also fall into deep deep wikipedia holes- i'll start looking up something normal (actor, TV show, historical event, etc.) and then follow a link on a page, another link, another, another...until it's an hour later and i'm staring at something totally weird like "american serial killers in the 1980s" or "a history of the isle of man."
 
Beckett said:
I go to the local rod and gun club to practice my archery skills.
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I would LOVE to get into archery! I got a lesson and open shoot for christmas and I had a blast. Hopefully once I graduate I will have more time (not likely) and more money to get into the sport some more :)

Mine are : SDN, pinterest, looking at dogs on petfinder, and looking at apartments on craigslist. Also, I enjoy watching the Aliens shows on the history(?) channel when I am super bored. Some of the ideas they come up with are straight up insane! :laugh:
 
I was an amateur writer back when I actually had time and did stuff. Now that my days are class-study-sleep-repeat, I occasionally kill time by re-reading my own stories. It feels like the most pointless exercise in vanity ever, but once I start I just can't stop!

Oh, and I just ate a cupcake. That I baked. Because that's also what I do when there's a GIANT PHARMACOLOGY EXAM bearing down on me.
 
prevetdreamer said:
looking at apartments on craigslist
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I thought I was the only one who did that! Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of moving in the next few years, but that doesn't stop me from going "so, if I *did* splurge on a one-bedroom, what could I feasibly get?"
 
Minesweeper! I swap out thinking with more thinking ;)
 
pooter said:
I thought I was the only one who did that! Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of moving in the next few years, but that doesn't stop me from going "so, if I *did* splurge on a one-bedroom, what could I feasibly get?"
Click to expand...

I LOVE looking for housing. I love just seeing all the types of places people live. I spend 2-3 months looking for every apartment I've lived in.
 
I'm a fan of absentminded Solitaire sometimes. Maybe even in class. But if I'm playing Solitaire, I'm actually listening pretty well - if I'm on Facebook or SDN, that's another story.

Aside from the ability to waste copious amounts of time on the internet... I like to draw and do artsy things, so I have to try not to go overboard with those. And if I start a book (that I like) I'm nearly useless until I finish it. Hence... I don't read for fun during the semester.
 
When I really, really want to zone out (or need an emotional pick-me-up) I go through random posts in the archives of CakeWrecks and Hyperbole and a Half.

Also: contact juggling.
 
Absentminded solitaire is boss. I also used to play snood like a mofo. And texttwist. But that was like five years ago or more. It got bad...to the point that the people in the row behind me in lecture were leaning over to suggest words. But I was the only person who answered questions in that class so I was like whatevsssss
 
Lupin21 said:
I spend hours sometimes filling my online book shopping carts with desired reading materials, only to sigh and close the window, not saving anything since I can't actually afford $$$$ worth of books anyway. :cry::cry:

Still, reading excerpts makes me happy :)
Click to expand...

I did this a few days ago, mainly focusing on animal books like Oogy. :laugh:
 
pooter said:
I thought I was the only one who did that! Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of moving in the next few years, but that doesn't stop me from going "so, if I *did* splurge on a one-bedroom, what could I feasibly get?"
Click to expand...

I did this until we bought our current house. It is split into an apartment and the main house now. I live in the main house, but will move into the apartment in the summer which I'm gonna have to myself then for a few years. So of course now I spend lots of time planning what it's gonna look like. Especially in terms of how comfortable the pets will be. :laugh:
 
SDN and cleaning are my guilty pleasures ... in fact, just yesterday I found myself vacuuming hair buffaloes (we have 2 Labs that shed A LOT) out of all the closets in the house as a "break" from studying :laugh:
 
kcoughli said:
I wish my time "wasting" was focused on cleaning things! Instead its marathoning shows via Netflix... sigh

Feel free to come "waste time" cleaning at my apartment anytime!
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If I waste a lot of time watching TV I feel guilty kinda ... whereas cleaning is mind-numbing and makes me feel like I accomplished something. It drives my husband crazy!
 
kcoughli said:
I wish my time "wasting" was focused on cleaning things! Instead its marathoning shows via Netflix... sigh

Feel free to come "waste time" cleaning at my apartment anytime!
Click to expand...

Ha, I also marathon shows on Netflix. I have a lot of automated cleaning devices so I try to make sure the dishwasher, clothes washer, and Roomba are all running while I'm being a lazy ass. I'll also watch Netflix and do something mindless like fold clothes. But sometimes I just sit there eating tasty snacks and letting my butt go numb.

Trust me, Casa Hygebeorht has a long way to go...
 
this thread!


and for all you "cleaners" out there, I have a room available in my house. You clean and cook (and love IGs) and you could live here on the cheap!
 
StartingoverVet said:
this thread!


and for all you "cleaners" out there, I have a room available in my house. You clean and cook (and love IGs) and you could live here on the cheap!
Click to expand...

Haha some guy friends in college used to let me use their house's washer and dryer (so I wouldn't have to pay for laundry) and reserved their futon for me on night's when I would go out or needed to be somewhere early in the morning (my apartment was all the way on the other side of a very large campus) and in return I would clean up whenever I was over there (dishes, vacuuming, folding their laundry, etc). They called cleaning my "rent" for staying there so often. I thought it was a fair deal. :)
 
RinTinTin said:
Haha some guy friends in college used to let me use their house's washer and dryer (so I wouldn't have to pay for laundry) and reserved their futon for me on night's when I would go out or needed to be somewhere early in the morning (my apartment was all the way on the other side of a very large campus) and in return I would clean up whenever I was over there (dishes, vacuuming, folding their laundry, etc). They called cleaning my "rent" for staying there so often. I thought it was a fair deal. :)
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Come to Penn.
 
I hate cleaning my own house, but have no problems cleaning other peoples' homes or cleaning at work. :confused:

There may have been a few times where I've gone to someone's house for an after bar get together and started doing their dishes or something. :oops: (I know the people, not complete strangers!)

SOV, if you want to add 2 cats and another dog to that mess, I"ll totally take you up on that. :laugh:
 
If anyone who likes to clean wants to come live in the UK for free... I will make sure there is space in my flat for you. You can come clean my flat... I hate cleaning and who wouldn't want to live in the UK for free? ;):)
 
wolfspeaker said:
I hate cleaning my own house, but have no problems cleaning other peoples' homes or cleaning at work. :confused:

There may have been a few times where I've gone to someone's house for an after bar get together and started doing their dishes or something. :oops: (I know the people, not complete strangers!)

SOV, if you want to add 2 cats and another dog to that mess, I"ll totally take you up on that. :laugh:
Click to expand...

Let's be friends :p
 
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