Playlist: Defusing a Bomb (A.K.A Sending an Email)

If you're like me, and you can only focus if you pretend you're in an action movie and the world is ending in fifteen seconds, these songs will be perfect for you. Enjoy a handpicked collection of adrenaline-inducing, sweat-pouring, badass movie scores ideal for your coffee shop study sesh! Good luck with second semester, guys.

1. "Frankenstein's Monster" from X-Men: First Class

What could possibly be better motivation than channeling the simmering rage and super sharp jaw of Magneto??? The bloodlust is optional (but righteous). FREE MY MAN HE DID NOTHING WRONG.

To complete the atmosphere: wear a leather jacket and your best resting bitch face. Everyone in the Starbucks should know that you've had a troubled past. Tape a picture of your greatest enemy next to your laptop and pause every so often to glare at it or menacingly sharpen a knife.

2. "Pacific Rim" from Pacific Rim

Nothing gets me in the zone quite like...uh...robot alien fight club music (?). Doesn't that electric guitar just make you want to FUCK UP some Blackboard quizzes?!

To complete the atmosphere: scribble messy equations on a chalkboard and tear out pages from your notebook. NO, YOUR BEST IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE HUMAN RACE? Do it again. When you've cracked the code, stand back with your hands on your hips and smile in wonderment. We did it, guys. Earth is saved.

3. "Fallout " from Mission Impossible

I took the liberty of choosing the more modern, less holy-fuck-cool-it-with-the-oboe version. I mean, if Tom Cruise can jump out of a plane, you can get up for your 8am lecture.

To complete the atmosphere: disguise yourself. Give a fake name at Starbucks. Wear sunglasses inside. Play the femme fatale and stare seductively at every innocent soul who wanders past your table in the library stacks. Or be the hacker and type as fast as humanly possible while talking out loud to yourself.

4. "Autobots " from Transformers

This one is great because you can kind of imagine Optimus Prime smiling at you fondly while you submit what is undoubtedly the most average paper that's ever been written. "The sun has set on the empire I called home," he would say benevolently, "but I have found peace in the intelligence of the human race. It is an honor to coexist with your species. Also your citations are from super reputable sources." Thank you, Optimus.

To complete the atmosphere: use a swivel chair to go between at least two tables, writing frantically and scratching weird hieroglyphics in cheap Bic pen. Stare out at the sunset with a weary yet satisfied expression on your face.

5. "Escape from East Berlin" from The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Ooh, an old-school one. Perfect for fulfilling my niche of "I literally cannot submit this assignment unless I put on heels and pretend I'm an international super-spy stealing classified government files under the cover of darkness". Why the government would care about covalent bonds or Gothic literature is anyone's guess. I don't question my orders.

To complete the atmosphere: lock-pick your way into an empty study room. Take all your notes in a cipher that only you understand. Print out your syllabus and put it in a manilla folder with a black-and-white picture of your professor paperclipped to it, then study the whole thing intently. If anyone asks say "it's classified".

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