Far too often we hear the term “adulting” spill out of someone’s mouth who is just “so freaking proud” because they were able to cook a meal without burning it or they managed to do their laundry without, well, burning it.

The term is increasingly becoming an annoying cliché and a headache because even though people claim to be nailing the whole “adulting” thing, they turn right back around and make the conscious decision to forgo their responsibilities to hang out with their friends or head to the closest bar and drink those responsibilities away.

OK, the term is innocent and it does mean something when someone of the college age is able to take care of themselves, create a budget for themselves, file their own taxes or even do their own FAFSA (because really, can anyone do that without feeling incompetent?).

However, it’s disappointing when someone accomplishes an “adulting” feat but turns right around and ignores their homework or calls off work to go watch the big football game. It seems a bit hypocritical, to say the least.

Perhaps what we fail to see is that when we ignore the responsibilities that are placed on our shoulders, we just assume that we are the ones who will get in trouble or suffer the consequences. What we neglect to realize is that other people rely on us to get our job done.

The staff at The Daily Eastern News realizes that it is a necessity to have some sort of social life and be able to relax after a long busy day or week.

But, we also recognize that it is so much easier to get your work done ahead of time and then go out and unwind because you don’t have to sit there and worry about all the work you still have to do or all the people you’re letting down.

Believe it or not, there is a way to have the best of both worlds. The way to get that is to start prioritizing. Try writing down your tasks for the week and making goals for yourself, but when you do that, make sure to follow through with those goals and tasks.

Life will be easier when you start to focus on what’s important.