Time is a precious commodity, but it’s still yours to utilize.
A wise person once said that time spent doing something you genuinely enjoy is never time wasted. I would addend that by saying that time spent doing something you genuinely need is also never time wasted. Assuming you maintain a statistically average sleep cycle, you have approximately 15 hours in any given day. Assuming eight of those go into a day job, that leaves seven hours to do with what you will. I’ve heard it said that every spare hour of every day should be put toward bettering yourself, whether that be physically, intellectually, financially, or whatever else. But take it from someone who has mastered the art of slacking off: there are times in life where you just want to do nothing, and you shouldn’t feel ashamed of that.
The importance of proper down time in a day absolutely cannot be overstated. Some people can handle going at full throttle super success at all hours of the day, but those people are few and far between, and even if they’re good at going full throttle, that doesn’t make it especially healthy. I take my free time very seriously, but it’s not because I’m doing anything especially productive. I’m usually just watching Netflix, playing video games, or occasionally reading a novel. Am I enriching myself in any notable way? Probably not, but doing these things make me feel relaxed and happy, and so I posit that they are most certainly not time wasted.
Society puts a lot of pressure on us to be productive at all hours of the day, but as important as taking care of business is, you just need to let your brain be in low-power mode sometimes. Don’t be afraid to be lazy for a couple of hours; it’s your life to live and your time to spend. As long as you’re doing things that make you happy and aren’t actively harming yourself, then you’re doing fine.
