The art of procrastination

They say the hardest thing to learn in college is timemanagement, because you’re free of parental discretion, andyou’ve got all this time on your hands with things that youwould rather be doing than studying.

You are able to create your own schedule, thereby allowing youtime between classes. And you don’t go to all of your classesnonstop in one day, everyday. Classes are every other day.

In college, procrastination is more than just the reason for thelast minute to exist. Procrastination becomes an art form. Tell meif this sounds like your day:

You’re usually done with classes in the early afternoon.When you get back to your room, you check your e-mail — yourSMU, America Online and Hotmail accounts. You sign onto InstantMessenger to see who’s online. You read everyone’s awaymessages, even though they’re all the same: “I’maway from my computer right now.” Then someone from highschool sends you an IM. Hot diggity! So you catch up on eachother’s current events.

At 6 p.m., Umphrey Lee beckons. You IM friends to see ifthey’d care to join you at the dining hall, becauseyou’re too lazy to walk across the hall to ask themyourself.

You come back an hour later, and your RA is recruiting peoplefor an intramural game, so you agree to play. The game is played.Your team loses. You come back to your room, and your roommate begsyou to take a shower for the sake of all humanity. So youshower.

It’s 9 p.m. and by the time you’re done,you’ve gotten “so fresh and so clean (clean).”You sit down in front of your computer with a stack of books, readyto begin on homework.

Oh, but you’ve got time, so you check to see who isonline. You see all the away messages up, so you play a littleSnood and download some music. Someone from down the hall wants togo eat at Mac’s Place but doesn’t want to go alone, soyou agree to join them.

By the time you get back to your room, it’s about 11, andpeople are watching “Blind Date,” so you join in on theparty.

Midnight rolls around, and someone IMs you, and you startchatting about everything and nothing at all.

You look at your watch, and it’s 2 a.m. Crap, you’dbetter get started. You get up to make some popcorn and get youreighth can of Coke, and by the time you get back to your desk,it’s 3 a.m. Awww crap. It’s late. You’re going tobed.

I’ve learned a few things when it comes to time management(or a lack thereof). First of all, if it wasn’t for the lastminute, nothing would ever get done. It’s the cardinal ruleof procrastination — wait until the last minute to doanything and everything. Second, Instant Messenger is like a hotguy walking by with his shirt off — it’s a distraction.And finally, the only place to get anything done is thelibrary.

Okay, time to start on homework. What? It’s 2 a.m.already? Crap. I’m going to bed.

Ann Truong is a columnist for The Daily Campus. She may bereached at [email protected].