Spend it Wisely

I have a vague memory of seeing someone giving a TED Talk or something similar. He spoke about a person being given money at the start of each day which they had to use by the end. They couldn’t save the money, so any not spent by the end of the day was taken from them. They could spend it on themselves or on others as they wished.

He suggested that you would think very carefully about how you spent that money every day if that was the case. You would ensure that you could put it to the best possible use. He then told his audience that it was how they should look at time. There are 1440 minutes in each day and we owe it to ourselves to spend as many of those minutes as possible in ways that benefit ourselves or others. Sleep is a good use of that time because it allows you to make more effective use of the fortune you are given if you are wise. Work is a good use of that fortune, but so too are family and friends. I would actually suggest that they are a more lasting and more important use, because they give you love and security, two things work does not. Writing my blog is a good use of my ‘money’ but just aimlessly scrolling is a waste of it. Watching TV or listening to music can help you to relax and maybe give you the opportunity to share your passion with someone else. Finally, spending that time with those you love will always be, to me at least, the most effective investment of all.

So, spend your time like you spend money. If you have wasted it, acknowledge that and move on, because self recrimination wastes even more! If you have spent it well, you can see it as an investment for the future in terms of lovely memories. I am now going to spend the rest of my 1440 minutes as wisely as I can.