We all need to agree that going to the library on your own is much better than going with a friend

Ah, the library. The place where dreams go to die, like a physical manifestation of Sheffield Hallam. The library is the second home of the student, and the last thing you want in your second home is housemates.

Going to the library is so much better alone. The whole point of going to library is to do some work, to get the work done you said you would do weeks ago, the work you’ve been putting off whilst, thanks to Netflix, you’ve once again been re-watching Friends and taking the corresponding quizzes to see which character you are, and disappointingly you’re Gunther. Having a friend there with you will only add to the procrastination.

Arranging to meet up is work in itself

Before you even begin to go to the library, you’ve got to arrange a time to go with your significant library other, and that can be an effort in itself.

Imagine this: there you are, about to go to bed, the time of day when annoyingly you are most motivated. You tell yourself tomorrow will be the day you get your shit together, tomorrow will be the day you get started on that essay, you’ll drink so much water, you may even cook yourself a healthy meal too.

You think how easy it would it be to go to the library of your own accord, to get up early and go and get your work done. If you don’t go there’s no-one to judge you, no-one will know you’re a flaker that doesn’t drink enough water and eats ready meals from the plastic tray.

If you arrange to go to the library with a friend, however, you must wait for a time that suits them, as your newfound motivation dwindles ever quicker, until you have zero motivation to get your shit together and you find yourself in the library, once again doing absolutely nothing.

Challenge: Finding two (good) seats together

The idea of going to library to get work done will come crashing down when you get there and realise that, low and behold, there are no seats. I mean there are seats, but there’s no seats that aren’t within two feet of another human being.

No-one wants to sit next to someone who will secretly judge you when you’re doing that same Friends quiz again instead of working, as if the outcome won’t once again be Gunther.

Finding a seat in the library is like an episode of Location, Location, Location, except instead of being a slave to a mortgage, you’re a slave to the Student Loans Company, and your budget is the remainder of your overdraft.

Going to the library alone solves this problem. Once you find that elusive seat a suitable distance from prying eyes, you can grab it and get on with your work. If you were with a friend this wouldn’t be possible. There’s more chance of getting a speedy, not in any way passive email from your lecturer than there is of finding two seats together in a good location.

Distractions? What distractions?

Once you’ve sat down, the distractions begin. Humans are programmed to have fun, that’s what we inherently want to do. That’s why we put jumpers on dogs and mix Red Bull with alcohol, because we’re programmed to do so.

So, if there’s a choice between getting on with work or going on Snapchat, taking an awful picture of your friend, cutting out their face, then sticking a sticker of their face all over the picture, then we all know which we’d choose.

Going it alone solves this problem. Just imagine the feeling you have after you’ve finally finished the work you’ve been putting off for weeks, after the weight of worry has been lifted from your shoulders and you can finally spend time with your friends without the guilt, the doubt at the back of your mind.

Yeah, going to the library alone may not be as fun as going with a friend, you may wonder what the point of it all is, and maybe it’s why according to an online quiz you’re still Gunther from Friends, but the feeling you’ll have once you’ve got that work out of the way will make it all worth it.