When you apply for overseas universities, the really good ones (top of the line types), you start to realise how much time you are "wasting" by realising that others can accomplish so much, and realising how many blanks you leave in the section of the application labeled "Activities You Engage In" or similar.
While resting and relaxing may be good for general health, in the light of this, it becomes very unproductive. You end up wishing you were somewhere outside taking AP or some other class which adds value to your CV, or maybe some sport like training for the marathon, no, triathalon that would add that "wow" factor. Or some skill, like repairing cars at a workshop and gaining work experience. Suddenly, going out with your friends to play at the arcade or catching a movie seems so wasteful of time. The opportunity cost seems so high.
I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing, but I know that if you do all these just so you can put it credibly into your applications, then you are doing it wrong. Sure, there's no harm in considering what value each of your activity adds to your application or CV, but if you go out of the way just to add it in, then unless you are really determined and willing to suffer more than you should for it, you'll end up subpar in that area. If you're not a person who runs, don't think about training up for the marathon coming in a month. You won't make it, and even if you do, you'll end up in hospital (I have a friend who ended up in hospital due to insufficient preparation and pushing himself over the limit). If you hate maths, taking that AP in calculus will see you likely to fail it while spending many nights agonising over problems which you can't solve due to your dislike for the subject, lack of talent, or both.
I came up with a conclusion: Make use of the skill you like best, and be good at it. There are some things which is not a skill. To judge that, simply try to find a competition for it. If you can't find one, that thing which you do is likely not a skill. You can't be good at something which isn't a skill, so drop it. There are those which are skills but have no competition of course. Those are likely to be life skills, like being able to understand a person, counsel a person, or DIY fixing. These skills, although not unimportant, isn't necessary to practise unless really necessary. I mean, can you practise your ability to hear others out? Not unless you start a counselling service. Which in that case would make it of value, in monetary terms too. You get my point.
So somehow, whenever I'm going out and doing stuff, I tend to feel much better than if I were not. One more point I forgot to mention is going out with friends. Make sure you guys talk alot with each other. No point meeting up for a movie if you're not having dinner or lunch, or some meal afterward or before. Watching a movie together doesn't provide much opportunity for conversation by itself. Why conversation? Networking. Excuse me for discussing friendship so coldly, but the value in friendship increases the more you're connected. Close friends are more valuable than friends whom you only add on facebook and then not talk to. The only way to increase "closeness", like an RPG measuring all kinds of values, is to do stuff together, and talk. Talk. Close friends are those whom you talk with the most. Accumulatively of course.
I've been rather busy recently, and that's great because it makes me feel much better about myself. Army is partly the issue. Seriously, alot of allocative ineffeciency, and hence I'm wasting my time here. Part of my duty though, to throw some of my life into the bin. I've already did my best to throw as little of it as I could without accidentally throwing more. More on that after ORD when I no longer am subjected to the extra laws. Well, anyway, my list of activities now? Uni apps of course, uni entrance tests, interviews, improving my photography (3 major events scheduled), appointments for ORD clearance, planning and preparing for the Japan trip by keeping a constant lookout for better deals and itinerary among other things. Of course I haven't neglected my anime � number of minutes is "OVER 9000!" Just kidding. It's over 300 hours, which is over 18,000 minutes.