How many of the 16.7 million college students in the United States (as estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau) have ever watched an entire season of a television show in one sitting? Probably more than will admit to it.
College students have turned time wasting into an art form. College is the one time in a person's life when it is socially acceptable to create and utilize every moment of downtime possible.
Some days and weeks are busier than others, but pretty much everyone finds the time to "spend" on a mindless activity - or 12 of them.
In college, time wasters are anything that is enjoyable and largely unproductive: watching reruns of favorite television shows, taking frequent and unnecessary naps, compulsively checking away messages, updating a Facebook profile, blogging, shopping and any of the hundreds of other possibilities.
This does not seem to be a problem now, but it can easily become one later in life.
A recent survey by America Online and Salary.com lists Indiana second in the nation when it comes to wasting time at work.
They estimate that Hoosier employers throw away more than $25 billion in salary on all the time that employees waste - which averages to 2.8 hours a day per employee.
Generational trends say that, in the "real world," today's 20- to 25-year-olds will waste four times as much of every work day as our parents do. This can be attributed to many factors, but the most obvious culprit is the Internet.
The aforementioned survey found that the Internet is by far the No. 1 drain on productivity, and it's also where many college students currently spend a majority of every day. The Internet is available at home, at work, in the library and even during class. It is common to look up in class and see a computer screen proudly displaying the owner's MySpace page, e-mail inbox, Live Journal or personal ad.
In addition to these common favorites, everyone has his or her own personal favorite Web site. It could be keeping abreast of the news with the Drudge Report, playing Yahoo! Games or checking scores on ESPN. A little-known personal favorite is McSweeney's, where a visitor can read the kinds of stories that would never be printed in a "real" magazine.
There is a Web site for everyone who has time to waste. But is there really as much time to waste as many seem to think? Could the hours in a day be better spent?
Absolutely.
Ball State University aims to prepare its students to enter the workforce. So should college be where one learns to make good use of time? Yes.
College is fun, and it should be, but it is also the training ground for "real life."
There is a lot to do here at Ball State to fill the time that is currently wasted. Joining an organization, working a part-time job, volunteering, going to the gym for more than just the first two weeks after the New Year or supporting the men's volleyball team - which happens to be No. 10 in the NCAA - are all good reasons to get off the couch and the computer.
Here's a novel idea: What if every student at Ball State decided to not procrastinate on one project or paper this semester? We all might just get a little grade point average boost and a lesson in the benefits of higher productivity. There will be more time to sleep at night, relax and - for once - not be scrambling to finish at the last minute.
Now is as good a time as any to prepare for the realities of post-college life.
Starting early will definitely make the transition smoother. In a world where time is money, maybe it's a good idea to start cutting back on the waste.
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