I heard the beep of the horn, and I was out the door, down the steps and throwing open the white gate within seconds. As I scurried down the path toward the waiting car, I heard my grandmother's voice calling me from the porch. "You didn't even say good-bye," she said. "Come back here and give me a kiss."

I bounded back up to the porch to give her a quick hug, but she hung on. "Gram, I gotta go," I said, growing impatient, as I motioned toward the car. Then I ran back down the path and hopped in the car.

At the time, it seemed like an ordinary day, and it was. But I have often thought back to that ordinary day in my 12-year-old life, probably because it was one of the last times I saw my grandmother before she became sick and died.

It's funny, but looking back now I can't remember to where I was hurrying, although it seemed so important in the moment.

But I can remember a phone conversation from a few weeks later when she asked why I hadn't called her in a while. I always called.

"I've been busy," I said. It was one of those moments when you realize exactly how lame you sound as you hear the words slip from your mouth.

I can also remember sitting at her wake and wishing that I had made it to the hospital to visit her more often.

Thinking back to how carefree those days were, it seems pretty ridiculous that I thought I was busy. In my pre-teen world that must have meant my schedule was filled with watching Full House, playing basketball and doing algebra worksheets.

But is it really any less lame to drop the "I'm too busy line" as college students or as adults in the real world?

Of course, almost every one I know in college is busy. They have to go to class. Some have to go to work. They exercise. And do laundry. And lead clubs. And volunteer. And study. And write papers. Some days they get up early and they go to bed late - if they go to bed at all.

However, even the hardest working people probably waste more time than they'd like to admit. Nielson, a marketing research company, found that on average, Americans watch the equivalent of two months of non-stop television in a year. A lot of work or play can be done in two months.

Of course, T.V. isn't everyone's vice. There are a million different things out there that gobble up people's time in large and small increments -- surfing the net, gossiping, chasing promotions at work and even being involved in a project or organization about which they really aren't passionate. Sometimes, we're our own worst enemies.

Luckily, these days it seems like every possible gadget and technology is being created or re-designed in order to save us time.

AIM can automatically sign itself on without so much as a click from our busy fingers. Elevators help us narrowly escape wasting time by having to use our over-worked legs to actually walk up stairs. Toilets can flush themselves. Lights can be clapped on without us even hitting the switch. Drive-thrus toss our food into bags in less than a minute. We've traded the oven for the microwave and dial-up connections for instant broadband access. We've traded face-to-face communication in favor of phone. We've traded phone in favor of Internet. And really, why bother e-mailing someone when you can text them in 10 seconds? "CTRN. Sry- busy. TTYL."

With all this time being saved, one would think we'd be drowning in relaxation time or stunning ourselves with our sense of productivity. Instead it seems we're hearing and we're saying "I'm too busy" more than ever before.

According to msnbc.com, today between 60 to 90 percent of visits to healthcare professionals are for stress-related problems. The Web site also stated that the stress relief business is now an $11 billion a year industry, while 100 years ago there "wasn't even a word for what we call stress." Stress relief balls are sold at most drugs stores. That way, you can take your aggression out on a ball of sand instead of on a person - hopefully. Yoga classes are enjoying a new surge in popularity for their stress-relieving properties. Don't worry -- if you don't have time for the class you can just do the tape at home. We know you're busy.

I guess no matter how many corners we can cut and seconds we can save, using time will always be about setting priorities.

In reality, there's probably enough time for all of us to do everything that's important to us -- and then some. Saying we're "too busy" is usually the equivalent of saying we just don't care about something or someone enough to be there.

Like that marathon of crappy reality television, some things mean nothing to us, and we still let them suck away our time. Other things and people are our worlds and yet we never stop to give them the time they deserve.

Even as busy college students, there's always enough time to be there for the people and events that matter to us -- if we make it that way. Half the battle is knowing what exactly falls into that category. After all, the papers, exams and meetings will always be around.

The people we love won't.