What is ABW?

ABW is a theme my apartment has lived by for the last two years.  More succinctly, it’s a way of life.  It describes what we’re doing most often when we’re in the apartment, and quite frankly we’ve gotten very good at it after two years.

ABW stands for Anything But Work.  This can be anything you choose to do, and the only rule is you must have work you should be doing instead.  Reading Sports Illustrated in the hammock is ABW.  So is watching country music videos on CMT.  So is stalking Facebook for 30 minutes to find that girl from class.  As is scouring the internet for funny videos to show your friends.  As is taking a 30 minute power nap so your eyes are well rested to read for biology.  Talking to your roommates about your day is ABW.  Watching the end of a sports game where the outcome is certain and has been certain for the last 10 minutes is ABW.  Throwing the volleyball in the apartment, mainly to prove that your parents don’t reign over you anymore because they can’t tell you to stop, is ABW.  So ABW is seemingly limitless.

The benefits of ABW. One of the best parts of ABW is telling it to someone else.  What are you guys doing today?  Probably just ABW. -- You can act like you have a schedule or something you’re actually suppose to do when in fact it means you don’t have plans at all.  Or better yet, saying I have a lot of ABW to do.  This makes you sound important.  It makes you feel valued.  I’m a busy man and my time is important, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to do all the ABW I want to do, when in fact it’s an oxymoron saying you have a lot of nothing to do.

Next time, you’re procrastinating and someone asks you what you’re doing, don’t talk about procrastination or work.  Calmly respond with “just catching up on some ABW.”