Escaping Efficiency at Summer Camp

I’m always in a rush. From orchestrating my schedule to ensure not a second of downtime, to run-walking everywhere I go, to listening to my audiobooks at 1.2x speed. My brain has been trained to think that the way to get the most out of my day is by living efficiently. I try to complete school assignments quickly so that I can check them off my beloved lists as soon as possible. I respond to emails, texts, and most other notifications as soon as I see them to ensure I am not getting behind.

It wasn’t until working as a camp counselor this summer that I realized how much more stress-free, but even more importantly, enjoyable my life could be if I slowed down. I decided I wanted to be a camp counselor because as a kid I had never had time to go to summer camp because of dance training requirements so this summer was my chance to go. I knew it would change my life, but I wasn’t sure how.

At camp, I had a standard daily schedule that I stuck to almost every day for 6 weeks. I was given hours each day to just be in my cabin and do anything I (or my campers) wanted aside from using technology, as phones weren’t allowed there. That usually meant braiding hair, making bracelets, or journaling. I didn’t have to worry about the thousands of emails rolling into my inbox or even the tons of texts I was receiving each day. And even when I got my phone back on weekends, no one seemed to mind that I was responding to their messages a couple of days late. I realized these timely practices were self-imposed policies that really didn’t affect anyone's life but my own.

I learned how to be patient. At this Christian camp, when the pastor was giving a sermon, even if it was long and boring, there was nothing I could do but just sit there and listen. I would walk around the grounds of camp without music or an audiobook blaring in my AirPods and instead just absorb everything that was going on around me. I became patient in my conversations with people too. Just because I was in someone’s presence didn’t mean that we had to be conversing and catching up. We would definitely talk a lot about anything and everything (mostly our goofball campers), but we could also just enjoy each other’s silence.

We as humans were not created to rush through life. I have realized there is so much less of a benefit to being efficient than it seems. Being efficient for me doesn’t mean that I finish a task early so that I have time left over to rest or do something I enjoy. For me, it means I finish a task early so that I have more time to pack in more tasks that I will also definitely rush through. It also means not giving myself enough time to actually enjoy any of the things I’m doing. Multitasking is probably my greatest downfall. It’s hard to argue with “why do one task when you could do two in the same amount of time.” But, those two tasks will each only get half of your care and attention. I miss out on enjoying so many things because just doing one task at a time leaves too much of a risk for boredom.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to learn that boredom is a good thing. So many wonderful moments and enjoyable times come out of boredom. Downtime could lead to time for new hobbies, time for connecting with people you care about, or time to REALLY rest. Side note: I’ve decided “chilling on my phone” is not REALLY resting because I never leave my phone feeling more at peace.

I was recently asked by someone reading my resume if I have time to sleep. My friends only half supportively roll their eyes every time I tell them about a new club I’ve joined or an event I’ve signed up for. This is not how I want to be. I don’t want the people I care about to feel like they aren’t getting the most full version of me. I am focusing this year on dedicating time only to the things that I love and giving those things the care and attention they deserve. I still want to go to the club meetings that I love, but instead of half listening while finishing a discussion post for class at the same time and then dipping out early to get to the next meeting, I want to close my laptop, engage with the people around me, and maybe even linger around after the meeting to ask questions or help clean up.

This is my year of audiobooks at 1x speed, writing handwritten letters, walking to class without AirPods, withdrawing from a couple of clubs, and walking next to my friends, not five steps ahead of them.