“Oh my gosh. I’m so busy, all the time,” that one kid says in your class. “I never have time to do anything any more.” Everyone knows that kid. He might even be you. Some of us are busy with jobs and classes and sports and clubs and helping our families – but is our time really filled up?

  Maybe being “busy” is just fashionable in our society. Being occupied is what a lot of people like to do. Keeping busy is better than having nothing to do, right? A lot of people I know would agree.

  Before I go further, I have to give definitions of being busy. Google defines “busy” as “having a great deal to do.” That’s acceptable, but how do we put this into easier terms? Being busy means having so much to do that you have no time for yourself, is my definition. You have other things you need do, like homework and sports and a job or two. These things do make a person fairly occupied, but does this really mean the person is busy?

  I don’t think so. I have plenty of friends who claim to be the busiest people in the world, but still have time to take naps, do all of their homework, and have nothing to do after school or on the weekends. Yet, the phrase stays the same. “I’m just so busy, all the time.” No, you’re not. You are in a few clubs and they meet a few times a week, but that doesn’t make you busy. You have plenty of time after and during the rest of the week and the weekends to do what you have to do. Maybe, you have a job. You go in four times a week. Yes, at this point, you’re busier than the person before, but you have time to yourself. Some kids aren’t as lucky.

  Busy is taking all AP classes, having a job, doing sports, and joining a club all at the same time. Busy is having to drop out of school to take care of your family and work every day, all day, maybe working multiple jobs. A single person shouldn’t have to do all of this. It’s just too much. People need to have time to recharge and do things for themselves.

  If a person can find the time to binge watch Netflix and play a bunch of video games, they aren’t busy. Maybe they’re “busy” with Netflix and video games, but those aren’t things that are required of them to do. That’s a pleasure activity, not a required activity.

  I feel like a lot of people overreact and overplay their lives. Personally, I don’t think being so busy you can’t watch a show on Netflix or see a friend on the weekend is a good thing. I wouldn’t want that for myself or those close to me, it just doesn’t sound appealing. Being busy and being productive are two very different things, and being busy isn’t the better one. Everyone should be able to have at least an hour or two to themselves every day, and that shouldn’t include when they’re sleeping.

  Be productive, but don’t overstretch yourself. It’s not good, and it’s not fashionable. Besides, if you aren’t truly busy, it makes you look bad arguing about how busy you are, when the people around you know all you do is sit at home and watch the new season of Parks and Rec.