Things that get done after midnight

Those who know me well enough will remember the speech I did a few years ago on structured procrastination. Those who think they know me well but do not remember it had better come up with a good reason.

To recap - everything of any use gets done when you should be doing something else. As John Lennon put it, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans". Exercise and piano practise are done at exam time. Last year I could have met the HSC with Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major (Op. 9 No. 2), or half of Debussy's La Cathedral Engloutie. Right now, I return to blogging with a desk resembling lasagne too small for the baking dish - in seemingly neat piles, but spilling over at the edges.

As a uni student, the idea of structured procrastination has grown stronger, using free time and internet access as the excuse. But again, its not what isn't done, but what is that matters. I now have the ability to put everything (i.e. cleaning my desk) off because I have been up until 12:30 every night this week (though it is only Tuesday) working out what courses to do next semester. Plan one, one of the courses isn't being offered. Plan two, one of the courses was a prerequisite for another. Plan three, just do what everyone else is doing and stop trying to fit in an extra subject (for now). Whatever the answer, it's turned out that first years aren't as independent as they think they are, and I had to ask four people for advice.

After midnight, things become far more important than they should be. Especially if they're a week away. Or entirely unnecessary - yet another tribute to blogging! Readers, I hope you're doing something useless that you think is important - otherwise, where is this age of technology taking us?