As I am a first year student at university, I have to attend a lot of lectures. If you have been to a lecture before, you will know they aren’t always the most fun things in the world. Ok…lets face it majority of them are terribly dull.
A lot of the time I get distracted and end up missing half of the lecture, so here are a few things that I do, and I know a few other people do, while in a lecture.
1) Doodle
You don’t need to be an artist to doodle. Put a pen in a student’s hand and they will become Banksy in no time at all. Doodling is the best thing to keep you entertained when in a lecture. It’s free, quiet and it’s more entertaining then writing notes on what your lecturer is saying.
2) Tweet or write a status
It’s something that we have all done in a lecture, and that is tweet or post a status about how boring it is. Although this only takes a few seconds. It is a few seconds of entertainment. Sometimes you’ll even get comments back from fellow students suffering your lecture too, which only extends your entertainment.
3) Facebook or Twitter
Facebook and Twitter become the most interesting things in the world when you’re in a monotonous lecture. You look at the same things over and over again. You scroll down the page trying desperately find something interesting – but trust me, whatever you find is more interesting than your 9am lecture!
4) Game time
Playing games on your phone is always great. There is nothing better then a little bit of angry birds while in the middle of a lecture. The next best thing is playing games on your laptop, although it is significantly harder to hide the quality is much better! Just be careful you don’t anger those around you!
5) Writing notes to a friend
So back in the day and, unfortunately, rarely now, you would write a message on a piece of paper and send it over to a friend when you were particularly bored in class. This was always great because there was always the possibility of getting caught. Taking a ride on the wild side. Although writing notes is great let’s face it, we are in the 21st century and we’ve scrapped note writing in favour of texting. Its faster, more efficient and no one can accidently get your note and read it.
6) Job searching
When you are at home with Netflix on, or when you’re out with friends you don’t want to waste your time searching for jobs. A lecture is the perfect place to have a nose – as you’ve got quite a lot of time on your hands! You can use your phone or even a laptop, and if you look on a laptop, you can pretend that you’re taking notes! This makes you look like a great student, and after all, getting a job is very important!
7) Listening to music
Ok this is sometimes easier said then done. As I am a girl and I have long hair, it’s easier for me to hide my earphones. It takes skill to be able to cover your earphones and make sure they aren’t seen. Obviously you can’t walk into a lecture wearing a huge pair of Beats thinking you wont get noticed because you most definitely will – trust me, lecturers have eyes like hawks! Also, try to make sure that your music isn’t too loud, as that’s a huge give away! Dancing, nodding along and singing should also be a pretty big, and obvious, no no.
8) Nap time!
Taking a nap isn’t something that I have ever done in a lecture. In my opinion I don’t understand how you could fall asleep on a hard desk. However I know many that have done it. Taking a nap in a lecture is risky business, but they saying nothing worth doing is easy. However, please take my one piece of advice, and don’t try it if you are sat on the first row of the lecture theatre!
[Image: Flickr/D Sharron Pruitt]
9) Assignments
This is probably my number one thing to do in a lecture. Why not start or finish one of your assignments? From the lecturer’s point of view, you look like a commited student taking notes (but we all know better!). It sounds rather foolish but a lecture is one of the best times to catch up on a bit of work, as you’re already relatively focused. If you are blessed with the power of multi-tasking, you will be able to listen and do some work at the same time.
10) Blogging
As you can probably tell, I do this a lot. Sometimes I have a lot of work to do and I am not able to sit down and blog. So during a lecture is the best time for me. You would be surprised at the things that you can come up with in a lecture. Sometimes even the lecture can inspire you!
These are just a few things that either I have done or other people that I know have done during a lecture. If none of these things interest you then you can always just listen and take notes (which is essentially why you’re there!). When you dedicate your self to the lecture, you would be surprised at how fast the time flys by!
Are you a goody-two-shoes who listens attentively throughout a lecture, or do you find yourself getting bored? What do you do to get yourself through boring and dull lectures? Get in touch and let us know in the comments below!
