Imagine that from today onwards, as a kind of game, I deposit exactly €86,400 into your bank account every morning between 06:00 and 07:00. Not a euro more or less, and you can spend it entirely at your own discretion.
But like any game, there are rules. In this case, there are four:
Everything you don't spend that day is automatically transferred back to my account.
You can't donate any of the money or transfer it to another account. You can only spend it on something.
Every morning I will deposit exactly €86.400 again.
I reserve the right to stop the daily deposits permanently at any time, without warning.
My question to you is how would you play this game and what would you do with this amount every day? Would you make the most of it and turn every day into a celebration?
The good news is that you're already playing this game. While you may not receive such an amount in your account every day, you do get something much more valuable. You get 86,400 seconds to live each day. Unfortunately, not everyone realizes the value of this.
Every morning when you wake up, you get a new balance of 86,400 seconds on your life clock. This is a gift you receive daily. When the day ends, the time you haven't used is not carried over. The unused time is gone forever. What has passed will never return.
Every morning your life clock is refilled, but be aware that this balance can be stopped at any time, without warning.
The bad news is that time flies, the good news is that you are the driver.
What do you do with your daily 86,400 seconds? Don't waste them. Invest them in what really matters. Make the most of this daily gift as long as you have it.
How Much Time Do We Actually Have Left in a Day?
On average, we spend the following amount of time per day on the necessary things we need to do to (survive) live:
Sleeping: 25,200 to 32,400 seconds
Eating and drinking: 3,600 to 7,200 seconds
Using the bathroom: 1,800 to 3,600 seconds
Personal care (showering, brushing teeth, etc.): 3,600 to 5,400 seconds
Other necessary activities (such as household chores): 3,600 to 7,200 seconds
Exercising: 3,600 to 7,200 seconds
In total, we spend an average of between 41,400 and 66,000 seconds per day on these essential activities.
This means that we have between 20,400 and 45,000 seconds left each day for other activities. Since a day has 86,400 seconds, we have between 24% and 52% of our time left for other things such as work, relationships, hobbies, and social contacts.
Ineffective Use of Time Can Make Your Day Very Short
There are people who worry daily about various things, such as whether they can pay the bills, whether their daughter will come home safely, whether they look good enough, or whether they are good enough.
Additionally, there are people who spend a lot of time being angry, arguing, or even doing both. How much time do you think they spend on this each day? These worries and conflicts not only cost valuable time during the day, but they also affect your sleep. As a result, you cannot make the most of the time you have during the day.
How to Make the Most of Your Day
There is no scientific formula for making the most of your day, but research shows that people who invest their time in sufficient and meaningful social contacts are the happiest and also live the longest.
Additionally, meaning plays an important role. Meaning is not about achieving goals you pursue, but about contributing to a greater whole of which you are a part.
Keep in mind that all the time you spend worrying, being angry, arguing, or, for example, lazing around, does not contribute to the above.
Does this mean you can never go wild or float aimlessly on an airbed in the pool? Of course not. The beauty of the game of life is that you get to decide how you spend your 86,400 seconds each day. This article is merely a call to consciously spend that time every day.
