A Short Reflection on our Fast Paced Lives

In the world of today, we find ourselves in a state of constant movement. There’s always something that needs to be done, something that's been forgotten, or somewhere to be. Various articles and academic journals have been published in recent years, posing the question of whether this is really the most valuable use of our time.  

To begin with the workload dilemma, students generally have a somewhat overwhelming workload, where it's almost impossible to go through one week of school without doing homework until past midnight. It seems to be that this is our time to learn the time management skills we've been taught throughout our entire academic lives. However, when met with extracurriculars and outside activities that almost all students are a part of, one finds themselves simply not having enough time. Because of this, there seems to be a decline in the quality of work, as students are simply trying to get through assignments passively to complete a checkbox, rather than gain everything they can from it. 

Part of this comes from our society's value of product over process. “The Practicing Mind” by Thomas M. Sterner highlights this in his reflection. To paraphrase the author: from a young age, we are constantly being valued from the product of our learning rather than the process itself. We have to complete every assignment due, rather than take one and understand everything we can from it. We are so focused on the completion, the final grade (the product) that we cannot appreciate and find ourselves truly present in the process.

It is something that one will spend their whole life trying to achieve, but is nonetheless a noble endeavor, to find the importance and beauty in experiencing the present.