Opportunity Cost of Time

A theme and pattern of creating a life you enjoy living is how you use your time. Time is the one asset that no one can buy more of. It is the one asset that is truly nonrenewable in our own lives. We have 24 hours in every day. That’s it. Winning back your time and having the ability to do what you want to do is the purest form of freedom there is. Freedom is not in the material items you own, it is in how you use your time. In the usage of time, we will always have choices on what we can do. There will always be options on what we could be doing instead of what we end up doing. The opportunity cost of how you use your time could make a life-changing impact over the long run.

You have thirty minutes of extra time on your hand. You could use that time to scroll on social media and relax on the couch. Or, you could use that time to watch a YouTube video on a skill you are trying to learn. You could use that time to stimulate your mind instead of aimlessly chasing a dopamine hit by scrolling social media.

If you are an avid television watcher that is struggling to find time to pursue a new hobby, assess how you are using your time. Instead of watching 2 hours of television, cut out thirty minutes and use that time for productive growth. As you form that habit you are likely to spend less time watching television and more time on the habit. It is a reprogramming of your brain and an accepting of the understanding of what the best use of your time is. Sitting on the couch watching television does nothing for you compared to what thirty minutes or an hour of focused, deep work, on a subject you are passionate about can bring you.

In looking at the ultimate value of the opportunity cost of time you must extrapolate the period of time from days to years. Imagine you keep the habit of watching roughly 2 hours of television a day for years on end. At the end of all of those years, your proudest achievement will be that you watched a lot of television series. Now assume you instead split up your time and worked on a skill or hobby, while also watching some television. Over a longer time period, you can become an expert at the subject matter you selected. Assume it was choosing to take a couple of Spanish lessons each day instead of that extra episode. Imagine how much you would learn in a couple of years!

The opportunity cost of time is real. With every choice, there was a trade-off for how that time could have been otherwise used. The most fulfilled people make the most of their time and minimize the opportunity costs of their usage. Use time wisely and start living the life you want to live.