The Value of Time
Image: tokkoro.com
Have you ever taken time to think about how significant time really is? Well...
Time is the currency of life
The rich man and the poor man are both allocated 525,960 minutes to spend every year. How each spends their time is what defines their position in the game of life. Let's take this into perspective.
If everybody was given $525,960 to spend every year, a majority of people would pick a pen and paper to make a budget for how they were going to spend it; granted- but way fewer people ever plan on how to spend their time as meticulously as they do with their money.
It is free but priceless
Even as the richest person alive, you could never add a single day to your life when it comes to expiration- not when you can't add even one second to your day.
Time, in its startling abundance, is a rare treasure
Over 100 billion people have walked this earth, and billions more will. Whether they each live/d a single lifetime is another day's discussion. What is for sure is that YOUR lifetime is one among billions.
And check this out... The average person lives up to 100 years max. Humans have walked this earth for over 200,000 years so far. That means that for every year you have been alive, there are thousands of years that you have NOT been and will NOT be around. Now, dare to compare your lifetime with eternity and see how rare your EVERY second is. That's how much it costs you to waste a second.
Time is irreversible
The clock is always ticking, and if it ever stops, time doesn't stop with it. Therefore, time that is wasted can never be recovered. Even more importantly, regretting wasted time only means wasting more time.
You can't go back to 2017, sorry! 1995? No chance. You can't shrink back into your childhood. You can't wake up yesterday morning to perform a task that was due last evening. If you had 3 months to prepare for an exam, you can't have them back when the exam is two days away. That applies whether or not you did prepare yourself for it. Even if it gets postponed, you will only have more time to prepare - not a fresh start. You definitely will be better off with the extension, but not as fine-tuned as you would have been had you not wasted any time.
The value of your time depends on what you do with it...
More time doesn't necessarily create more value. It's important to optimize your productivity by scheduling your most important tasks for the mornings and when you are well rested. The aim is to tap into the time of day when your concentration levels are at their highest. This makes you more effective because you get to complete your tasks in good time and without straining. You take longer to do simple things when you're tired or unenthusiastic. The most cherished moments of your life are likely to be those that taught you a lesson, built your character or that were spent doing the things you love.
...and who you spend it with
Spending time with the people you love makes your life worth the hassle. No matter how committed you may be, you NEED to find time to bond with family and with friends. Remember that life is a collection of achievements and memories pasted on a template of limited time.
Ultimately, time is such a complex phenomenon that it is no wonder it's a whole dimension in itself. ∎