Have you ever been in a casual conversation with friends when suddenly, someone brings up how much work they have to do? Then suddenly, you want to tell them how much work you have to do? Then next thing you know, it turns from a casual conversation into an all out war? I’m sure you have had, or at least witnessed an exchange like this. Why do people care so much (myself included, mind you) about winning the gold medal for being the busiest? Well, it seems that we have made being overworked cool.
It’s not just in these conversations that I feel the weight of this norm we have created. In every crevice of university life, I see this obsession with productivity manifesting. Most of my friends and acquaintances are involved in numerous clubs, many of them pre-professional clubs with the same amount of work as a three-credit class. According to some of my professors and national data, more and more students decide to double major each year; often, it seems, this is not because of the possible economic benefits, but because their peers are, or to pad their resumes.
So, it seems to be that there is a certain clout associated with having a full Google calendar. I mean, I get it: All those color blocks give a person an aura of accomplishment, I guess. And yet, as more students pack their schedules, rates of moderate to severe depression also have seen a major increase. I don’t think it would be crazy to suggest a correlation between these two sets of data: In my own life, there is a direct association between how much work I am doing and anxiety. A funny thing happens; Instead of feeling anxious while doing schoolwork, as seems intuitive, I get anxious when I’m not doing schoolwork. And no, it’s not that feeling of impending doom one feels because they are procrastinating something with a due date. Rather, every time I feel that I am not being “productive” in some kind of way, I feel guilty.
It is at this crux where I pose the question: If we give so much weight to busyness and to productivity, what does it even mean to be productive? What are we as students actually producing; after completing a problem set, it’s not like I have created anything new. So how, and more importantly, when, are people creative? The answer is when our minds are free.
Instead of feeling guilty for having leisure time, we should revere it. It is only with leisure that people have space to be thoughtful. These moments of nothingness are what allows people to grow as individuals and as intellectuals as well. The last time I read a book or wrote something not related to an assignment was summer, as it was the last time I had time enough to be bored. A university like Cornell is not meant to teach just within the classroom; half of the learning at a university should be outside of class, and I don’t mean homework! We need to rethink how we see leisure time, viewing it as crucial to personal and academic development, rather than just a period of laziness. Doing one major instead of two does not make someone less accomplished or intelligent, and we need to break from this way of thinking so we might all benefit from releasing some of the tension from Cornell’s pressure cooker environment.
Of course I am not saying that people should take as few classes as possible, neglect their homework and bunk off all responsibilities. People shouldn’t only do the bare minimum — or completely ignore professional considerations. Additionally, I don’t think scrolling on TikTok constitutes the kind of leisure I am referring to. I believe in the contrary: People should do a little less of one thing, such as a second major or clubs relating to their major, so they can do more of other things that are fulfilling, such as taking a class on Greek mythology or writing poetry or learning how to paint. College might be the last time that it is possible to both make time for pursuits of interests and to have access to resources to realize them. With that, I say, let’s make idleness cool again, for all of our sake.
Sophie Gross is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her fortnightly column Observing aims to analyze popular and academic culture at Cornell in an attempt to understand current social and political trends sweeping the country. She can be reached at [email protected].