10 Student Habits You Need To Drop (But Probably Won’t)

Living in a bubble surrounded by similarly-struggling students, bad habits are easy to pick up. I’m talking about eating cereal for dinner, getting back into bed after the dreaded 9am and binge-watching an entire Netflix series just as dawn is about to break.

While this is pretty tame stuff for a student, you should probably sort out these ten habits before entering non-student society in general.

Takeaway food

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Spending and gaining pounds on a good ol’ takeaway service is a student classic. But have you ever thought about how much money you spend on convenience food each week? Is this the best way to burn through your ever-dwindling student loan? Is it worth the lingering garlic breath in the morning?

Quite honestly, you’ve probably answered ‘yes’ to all.

Endless meme tagging

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Hours spent in a constant stream of notifications from the same person and ‘OMG literally us’ comments. You don’t think it’s weird until you try to explain why it’s so funny to your grandma and she asks: “What is a Harambe?”

Nocturnal lifestyle

You’ve spent 12-15 years getting up for school at 7:30am every day, but how, you ponder whilst waiting for your pot noodle to cook, did you manage it? When you go out, the thought of leaving the club before three is totally ridiculous. And how dare the postman wake you up with your online clothes delivery before twelve?

Washing up (or lack of)

It does not ‘need to soak’ for three days. There’s an advanced game of plate-Tetris that only students are master of, balancing precariously on the draining board, a pile of unforgotten (but much needed) cutlery and a drain pipe clogged with pasta that everyone’s ‘planning to deal with later’. A unique decor only found in uni digs.

Napping

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Anyone who can get through the day without at least a 19 minute power-nap is truly superhuman.

Napping used to be so uncool when you were younger. Battling with your parents, screaming as they tell you to ‘just get some rest’ is now a scenario you can only dream of.

Discount crazy

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Student discount is by far one of the best perks of being a student. What was life before you were blessed with near-constant discount?

The reduction section in supermarkets is your starting point every time you need to buy food. And of course, when bread is now 20p, you need to clear the shelf.

Snapchat

The overwhelming need to check which Snapchat filters were available each day got out of control. It started off as ironic but quickly progressed to full-on mania. Now you wake up and check to see what’s new on the app, wondering when the ‘buzzy bee’ will return and wishing that a two person ’round face big lips’ filter would make its debut.

Weird TV shows or YouTube videos

Period dramas and weekday documentaries are a thing of the past. By the time you’ve finished explaining the concept of ‘Naked Attraction’ and asking whether your colleague saw all the ‘memays’ of Gemma Collins falling off the stage at the Teen Awards, the look on her face says enough.

Deadlines

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Gone are the days of completing homework the day you’d get it. Why would your lecturer set a deadline if they expected you to finish it earlier? Leaving work until the last minute, you’re maximising the time you invested into it, and thus completing it to the best of your ability – that is, as your oldest and wisest self.

Please note that this kind of justification does not work when mum returns from work and you still haven’t emptied the dishwasher.

Rebecca Miller is a freelance multimedia journalist and graduate from Bournemouth University. You can check out her online portfolio here and find her on LinkedIn. 

Inspiring Interns is an internship and graduate jobs agency.