As busy college students, we spend most of our days rushing, whether it be to class, the cafeteria, internships, jobs, meetings or appointments. I'll speak to you later, I'm running to class, is a common refrain heard throughout campuses across America. Why are we always so rushed? Why must we do everything at breakneck speed, never stopping to take in our environment or pay attention to our state of mind?

According to Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow and The Slow Fix, technology and industrialization are only partly to blame. Benjamin Franklin famously said that "time is money," and many of us live our lives according to this mindset. We treat time like it is a scarce resource that must be used constructively at every opportunity. We think that we have "wasted time" when we have not accomplished our many well-intentioned goals.

Yet research shows that productivity actually increases with fewer hours of work. This past September, Gallup released a report revealing that the average work week in America is 46.7 hours, 10 hours more than it is in countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. In fact, many companies in Sweden have experimented with a six-hour work day and found their workers to be more efficient and less stressed. In America, Google encourages employees to devote 20 percent of their time to personal projects, which has led to the development of many creative ideas.

Research indicates that people think more clearly and creatively when they are calm, free of distractions, and unhurried. Charles Darwin called himself a "slow thinker," and Albert Einstein was notorious for spending hours daydreaming in his office.

So how can you slow down without being late for class or other commitments? Schedule some time each day to slow down. Take breaks from school work to go for a walk or simply let your mind wander. When you go out with friends, try to enjoy their company without checking your phone every five minutes to read up on the latest crazy thing that Donald Trump said.

By taking the time to slow down and embrace life in the present, you just might find that your mental health, relationships, and productivity all improve in the process. Now that's what I call multitasking.