And so my first exam paper is over! My first exam experience in Singapore Polytechnic.

The coolest thing about it was probably because the paper was in the evening. Like 6 to 8.10 pm.

So you can leave if you have finished the paper, provided it's at least 40 minutes into the duration. Some people left early, but my class stayed on till the 2 hours was up. After the invigilator said "Time's up, pens down," he went around to collect the scripts.

I was thinking, "Did he have to? Can't we all just hand in the scripts ourselves and get the hell outta there?"

After he finished collecting, we were just waiting for something to happen. Then I thought, "Hey, we can go,"

So I stood up. Then the invigilator said, "Please remain seated."

"What the hell?" But I just laughed it off anyway, cos I was the only one who stood up.

So 20 to 30 seconds after I sat down, "All right, you may leave,"

What's all these crap about?

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Surprising but true, I have taken up reading. But I'm reading books on self-help and self-improvement. It's fantastic. My first read is "The Only Clutter Control Book You'll Ever Need: Fast, Easy Ways to Clean Up the Mess and Conquer the Chaos" by Andrea Mattei.

Cos my house is a dump!

And the strangest thing about the book is that it touches on mental clutter too. It says that to clear clutter, you first have to clear your mind and that organisation and planning is very important. It even talks about proper attitudes to adopt. Then I came across a section that was real, real, cool.

Says,

"Psychologists determine whether people have optimistic or pessimistic characters based on their explanatory style when describing an unfortunate event. The explanatory style has three parts:

1. The internal/external explanation: Optimists tend to believe that external factors causes misfortune; pessimists tend to blame themselves (the internal factor).
2. The stable/unstable explanation: Optimists tend to see misfortune as unstable or temporary; pessimists tend to see misfortunes as stable or permanent.
3. The global/specific explanation: Optimists tend to see problems as specific to a situation; pessimists tend to see problems as global---that is, unavoidable and pervasive."

Hmm, pretty interesting eh? And the best part is the part on the "P" word. What "P" word? That "P" word.

Says,
"Procrastinators are highly-skilled individuals, and most clutter bugs are no exception. ... Procrastination requires the ability to create convincing excuses---convincing enough to persuade not only others but yourself as well. A procrastinating pack rat concosts all sorts of creative reasons... If this sounds like you, give yourself a pat on the back for being so creative, then pour all that creativity into actually accomplishing something."

My gosh! When I read that, I was like, "Spot on, man! What the hell?! It's frickin' true!"