Postgraduate · DST 204
MSc in Productive Distraction
A master's degree for the advanced practitioner who has learned that the surest way to avoid the important task is to do a different, slightly less important task exceptionally well. Evidence-led, rigorously off-topic, and impeccably organised.
Course structure
Taught across three intensive terms, the programme equips students to channel the full force of their focus toward whatever is not, strictly speaking, the priority.
- Term 1 — Foundations of Productive Distraction; Desk Reorganisation (Studio); The Methodology of the To-Do List.
- Term 2 — Advanced Inbox Curation; Side-Project Management; Optimising Tools You Will Never Use.
- Term 3 — Dissertation Preparation Preparation; The Adjacent Task; Independent Study (Loosely Defined).
Study abroad or placement
An optional placement embeds students within a host organisation, where they will identify the most pressing task and attend, diligently, to its neighbour. Remote placements are available and may be undertaken from any sufficiently comfortable chair.
Learning and assessment
Students are assessed less on the work itself than on the impressive quantity of adjacent work produced in its place.
- 50% — A portfolio of beautifully finished unrelated work
- 25% — Reflective log of tasks productively avoided
- 25% — Viva, rescheduled at least once
Professional accreditations
Accredited by the Chartered Guild of Adjacent Productivity. Members enjoy full professional standing from the moment they get around to paying their subscription.
Recognition of Professional Qualifications
This qualification is recognised throughout the sector wherever recognition is currently pending. Graduates report that the award is widely respected by colleagues who have, for some time now, been meaning to look into it properly.
Holders may use the post-nominal letters to which they feel, on balance, entitled.
Case study
“I was meant to be analysing my data,” notes one graduate, “so I built a colour-coded spreadsheet to track how I spend my time. It is comprehensive. It has its own dashboard. I have still not analysed the data, but the spreadsheet has been shortlisted for an award.”
Entry requirements
- A good first degree, or a very good excuse
- Evidence of at least one elaborate side-project
- Demonstrated fluency in productive procrastination
- A laptop carrying no fewer than four project-management apps
Fees and funding
Postgraduate tuition is invoiced annually, and our invoices are famously relaxed about arriving.
- UK students — £11,200, invoiced eventually
- International students — £23,000, invoiced slightly sooner
- Bursaries — available to those who genuinely meant to ask
Application information
Applications are accepted on a rolling and frankly leisurely basis. There is no deadline, and there has never been one; this remains the most popular feature of the programme.
Should the moment to apply not arrive, your place will be held in a state of indefinite readiness, at no additional cost.
- Step 1 — Resolve, firmly, to apply.
- Step 2 — Locate the application form.
- Step 3 — Set it somewhere safe and meaningful.
- Step 4 — Apply later.
Discover Uni course data
Independent course data, gathered and presented in the spirit of full and unhurried transparency.
- Pending
- Overall student satisfaction
- 47
- Tabs open per student
- —
- Complete the dissertation
- 12
- Side-projects per cohort
Course enquiries
Our admissions team reads every enquiry with great care and replies in the fullness of time. To date, the fullness of time has proven broadly sufficient.
- Email — enquiries@procrastination.edu (monitored intermittently)
- Telephone — we will call you back
- In person — by appointment, to be arranged shortly
Ready when you are
Begin your application whenever you feel ready
There is no closing date. There has never been a closing date. This remains, as ever, the entire point.