I think I speak for a lot of law students when I say this: no matter how much we are doing, it never feels like enough. My calendar is already packed to the point where one extra commitment would make it collapse, and yet part of me still looks for more. Another club, another project, another line for the résumé. It feels like something we have all been trained to do.

Earlier this year, a few friends were talking about rekindling the animal rights association at uOttawa. As a vegan and animal rights activist, I jumped at the idea. I joined the executive committee almost instantly. But when it finally came down to it, I missed every meeting, every important group chat convo, every task. I was in way over my head. Eventually, I messaged them to step down. Doing so made me feel like I had let them down, but even more so, I felt like I had failed myself. Lazy. Unorganized. Worthless. Non-lawyer material. Why couldn’t I just be more productive?

For me, this obsession with productivity and busyness started long before law school (though law school certainly added fuel to the fire). In grade 11, teachers used to tell us that the habits we built early on would determine the rest of our lives, and that message stuck. Every hour had to be productive, every extracurricular had to be strategic, and rest became something one had to earn. By the time I reached university, being busy felt less like a choice and more like a personality trait.

It took one small moment to make me question it. An old friend texted me wanting to reconnect, and I literally booked her for a one hour coffee. Not because I did not care, but because that was the only free spot in my week. Sitting across from her, I realized how strange it was that my schedule, not my relationships, had become the priority. I was not living. I was simply managing.

When I started talking about this feeling out loud amongst other law students, I realized I wasn’t alone. Many of my friends fully agreed with the irrational desire to be overly busy. One admitted she feels anxious when her calendar isn’t full, like she’s falling behind. Another joked that being exhausted is her new norm, since she doesn’t even have enough time for proper sleep. I laugh at such things, but I know none of them are really joking. Somewhere along the way, we had all internalized the same idea: busy is just better.

However, the irony is that being busier does not make us more creative, productive, or fulfilled. It wears us out. The more we cram into our days, the less space we leave for anything that refuels us: curiosity, rest, meaningful conversations, or even the quiet moments that let us think. You cannot expect your mind to generate good ideas when it is running on fumes.

As I continue to navigate student life, I am trying to unlearn the idea that my worth is tied to how full my schedule is. And I hope younger students hear this earlier: do what you can, not everything you can. Choose commitments that actually matter to you, not the ones you feel pressured to accept.

At the end of the day, being intentional matters more than being busy. Real success is not how much you can cram into a week but what is genuinely meaningful to you.