Time really is the most valuable thing you will ever have. If you talk to any serious business person they will value their time as the most important.
Time spent on a project is always worth more than the output. That's why some great ideas never come to pass, because time spent greatly outweighs the output. Some simple things may actually be incredibly complex when you open up the hood. A simple NFT project might not just be as cut and dry as making NFTs.
Time is also relative. As a young boy time seemed to pass slower. At school I would have my lunch, finish up and go and play with my friends at football, and in what seems like forever the school bell would ring for the next lesson. Now, at 44, it feels like I can barely finish a sandwich for lunch and an hour has passed already. As you get older time seems to slip by you rather than just trundle along at a slow pace.
And then there's the whole mental health aspect of time. A depressed person that hates their entire existence, time will absolutely stand still for them. I know this because it has for me when I have been depressed in the past. But if you're busy and interested in what you're busy with, before you know it the day is over and you wonder where all that time has gone.
It's also why work pays you. It doesn't pay you for your output, it pays you for your time. A highly effective team can accomplish so much in very little time, earning whoever they work for a lot of money in the process. That's ultimately why I went self employed, because I gathered that I could earn way more than my current wage. Time is valuable.
But then why do so many people waste time? Why are there so many distractions on YouTube and the TV and a big black hole where you can get lost in an instant?
Well a lot of it is to do with competency. I have since ditched the idea that people given the right tools can learn anything they want to. That's just stupid. For example no matter how hard I try I will never be 100% great at organization. And believe me, I've damn tried. And, the answer is not to pull up your pants an work harder, that's not it either.
Some people just don't want to value their time. They go and work, come home, and switch on the TV. And well, that's fine. Who am I to judge? Some people just don't have the ability to sit and watch a podcast on YouTube for three hours, or to read a book about improving themselves. Some people want to just be left alone.
And you know, as I get older, and wiser, I'm getting okay with that. I was of the mindset back in my young 20's and 30's that we could help everyone to become bright shining stars in the world, and everything would be comfortable and rosy, but that seems more like Utopia than anything else -- an unrealistic well meaning idealists fantasy.
Some people just don't give a shit about their time and that's okay. You know? Imagine a world with no entertainment, and nothing to distract the masses from the bad situation that we seem to more and more find ourselves in. The Romans had distractions, hell every major civilization after the Romans had the same - so why should we be any different? Humanity is unchanging at the core, right? The landscape may change, but the psychology doesn't.
So if you're like me and value your time, then spend it wisely. Learn how to do more things in less time. It will save a lot of hassle. But then if you like just watching TV then do more of that! I'm not going to tell you otherwise!
But above all, make sure you enjoy your time.