Hola, friends!
I’m writing this post from a beautiful sunny Mexico. I’m currently in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo. It’s in the Caribbean region, about 45 mins away from Cancun.
This is going to be an interactive experience and you’ll need your phone to participate. We are going to be using a calculator app quite extensively.
That being said, let’s dive in.
So, how are you spending 1440 every day? Nor sure what I’m talking about? Alright, I’ll give you a hint. Open up a calculator on your phone, then go ahead and divide 1440 by 60 (1440÷60).
What’s the result?
It should be 24. I hope you got 24 😉
Does this number ring any bells for you? What if I say 24/7? Got it?
24 is, of course, the number of hours in 1 day. And, 1440 is the number of minutes.
Voila! This is how simple math can put things into perspective.
Let’s take a moment and appreciate the fact that every single day of your life you get 1440 minutes. For free. You get them, I get them, a homeless person on the street gets them, your boss gets them, a president gets them. Even my cats get them. It truly is a level playing field.
That’s not the end of the story though. As big as this number appears to be, we do have some non-negotiables that’ll take away a good chunk of it.
Are you ready to do some more math?
Obviously, I’ll be talking in general terms and the numbers will be different for each and every one of us. Which is another reason for you to do this exercise alongside me and see your own numbers.
Alright, here we go.
1. Healthy sleep. I aim for 8 hours a day, which is 480 minutes. There are recommendations here and here for adults to sleep 7 – 9 hours, I’m aiming for 8.
2. Meals 3 times a day, each taking only 30 minutes; that’s a total of 90 minutes. We’re being optimistic here coz let’s face it: we spend way more time eating.
3. Bathroom, shower, brush teeth, groom, etc. That’s at least another 20 minutes.
4. Commute. Some of us are blessed to be working remotely but my daily commute (to the office and back) is at least 100 minutes. Often times it’s way more.
All of the above represent just the basic maintenance – non-negotiable time that I “burn through” every day whether I want it or not. My total is 690 minutes.
Have you been following? What’s your number?
By the way, I also spend at least 90 minutes at the gym most days but I don’t subtract that amount because I don’t exactly consider it to be maintenance. First, I think of it as an investment into my health – physical and mental – and overall well-being, and second, I have full control over this variable.
Now, if we subtract maintenance expenditures of 690 from 1440 end up with 750.
1440 – 690 = 750
750 minutes is the time we have control over. And that’s where we can get really creative.
Can you tell me what’s the biggest factor that will determine how much of that is used for good?
That factor is how you make money. Because that’s what the majority of the time (outside of the maintenance) is spent on.
Let’s take an average of 8 hours of work per day and subtract that from 750 minutes. I know, it’s all too general – keep writing your own numbers.
We end up with only 270 spare minutes. Essentially, that’s the only free time an average person can have every day.
What are you doing with this time?
According to Insider Intelligence, this year the average time spent on mobile devices is over 4.5 hours per day.
Do you know what 4.5 hours translates to in minutes? Exactly 270.
There you have it. It’s an interesting coincidence in calculations because it looks like pretty much every single minute of our free time we spend staring at our phones.
Um, what are we hoping to find there?
I know, it’s more of a coincidence that my calculations matched the research numbers to the T. But sadly, there’s a whole lotta truth to it.
Also, keep in mind that I didn’t even take into account TV watching. That’s another huge timesucker for many people.
Depressing, huh?
The good news is that this bad news isn’t that bad.
If you’ve done this exercise alongside me, then you know exactly where your time goes. And this knowledge can be extremely empowering because once you’re aware of what’s going on you can address the issues and take charge of your time, which effectively means taking charge of your life.
Was this exercise eye-opening? Perhaps it was sobering for some of us and I hope it was empowering.
In the second part of this training, I’ll share several strategies that you can employ to build upon this knowledge.
Right now all you gotta do is reflect on the results you got and try to be a little more mindful about how you choose to spend 1440 minutes every day.
Once again, this exercise is a necessary first step, which is becoming more mindful, the next one will be about becoming more intentional.
If you’re serious about improving your life then go ahead and sign up for my exclusive 7-day challenge.
Look out for the next video because that’s where the rubber will meet the road.
I’m signing off.
XO,
Peter
