The Dangers of IM...

Je suis, tu es, il est, elle est, nous sommes...

Studying for tests is never fun. Conjugating French verbs is even less enjoyable. And so, rather than trying to force my poor, overworked brain to accept this new knowledge, I find myself sitting on Gtalk and chatting to a friend. Interestingly enough, he keeps mentioning that he has "SO much Greek work to finish!" and yet he's still here, making small talk with me about girls, food and paedophiles. (Don't ask. We have a strange friendship). When he complained that he was tired, I told him to go to bed. His response? "I still have Greek work to do. Plus I'm busy procrastinating."

What fascinates me is that this is not a rare occurrence among myself and my friends; in fact, it seems fairly common among any and all varsity students. The closer the test/exam/assignment due date gets, the more interest we find in menial tasks like cleaning out our sock drawers, drinking 'just one more' cup of tea in the dining hall, and debating about the weather with random res mates that we meet in the corridor. (OK, to be fair the weather in Grahamstown is an endless source of fascination. But more on that another time). To sit down and study for a test sounds so simple, and yet somehow it becomes a complex battle of wills between myself, my textbooks and of course the ever-present Facebook.

I'll just check my notifications quickly, I tell myself. There won't be many. I mean, I was on only ten minutes ago. But you never know. Maybe the cute guy from Friday night invited me as a friend!
And forty minutes later I'm still there, sending messages to friends I haven't seen in five years and flicking through endless pages of bumper stickers while my poor textbook sits alone and forgotten on my bed. Procrastination is not a habit, it's a disease. And I have yet to find a cure.

One would think that all it would take is a failed test and I would be motivated to study harder once again. If only! Somehow, I always seem to pull it off at the last minute and scramble my way to a first with the minimum amount of effort. It usually involves one late-night study session and a lot of grumpy, sleepy cursing when I have to drag myself out of bed after half an hour of sleep. I don't know why I do this to myself.

But as they say, there are three S's in the student life: Study, Sleep and Socialise. The general belief is that it is only possible to achieve two of the three.
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Challenge accepted!