The conundrum of being busy at Princeton

I have stopped saying I’m busy.

I am busy though. I just do not say the words “I’m busy” or “too busy” because that is a condition. Let’s be honest: if you are busy now, you will still be busy tomorrow with something else. This is Princeton. If you blow of a friend because you are too busy, then next time, you will still be too busy.

Instead, I have made a very conscious decision to tell people what I am busy with. It seems like a small change, but it makes a world of difference. I am not “busy”; I have a problem set due tomorrow. That means that tomorrow, I can hang out or go for that run or just do nothing. There is a lot of value in doing nothing, especially at a place like Princeton.

It also forces me to share what I am spending my time on. If I am constantly telling people that I have a problem set or an essay or reading, then maybe my friends will say to me, “Beni, you’re focusing too much on academics. You need to relax a little.”

It also makes me cognizant of how I choose to spend my time. I have started turning down opportunities not because I do not have the time, but because that is not how I want to spend my time. Yes, that visiting lecturer does seem interesting, but maybe it will make my day just a little too packed. I do not need to be scheduled down to the last minute.

Princeton is a busy time, but we are our own worst enemies when it comes to filling that time. We have to remember that taking a few hours off to sit outside and read a book not for any class is important as well. To the freshmen reading this (and maybe other years as well) remember: you are here. You already got accepted. You do not need to join 146 extracurriculars, and you should not. You cannot do anything well if you spread yourself so thin. You have only so many hours in a day, so chose wisely.

Maybe we try to fill in our days since it gives us meaning. I think this is related to a more general societal problem: most of what people do is unnecessary. Very few of us produce food. Very few of us will create shelter for people. I am not saying that most modern jobs are useless, but they are far from essential. The world will keep spinning without college graduates just fine. So we make every minor commitment essential.

We pack things in so that we don’t have to realize that in the scheme of things, the degrees we are all working so hard to get are not essential in the same way that having a successful harvest was for our ancestors. Do we spend time on important things, or do we view things as important because we spend time on them?

It is okay to say no to something not because you are too busy, but because there are other things you would rather do. And if what you would rather do is nothing at all, that’s fine too.

Beni Snow is a sophomore from Newton, Mass. He can be reached at bsnow@princeton.edu.