How would you spend your time?
This thought experiment reveals powerful lessons about time management, priorities, and making every moment count.
Have you ever felt like time is slipping away too fast? Now, imagine if your entire life lasted only 24 hours. Every second would be precious, every moment carefully chosen.
Although this is purely hypothetical, it forces us to ask an important question: Are we really making the most of our time? The average life expectancy is 70 years for men and 75 years for women, yet most of us still feel like we never have enough time.
By looking at life through this 24-hour lens, we can better understand where our time really goes and how to live with greater urgency and purpose.
A Lifetime in 24 Hours
If we compress the human lifespan into a single day, every hour would represent around 3.5 years, and every minute would be two months. Let’s see how life would unfold:
You’d start crawling within 12 minutes, walking by 18 minutes, and talking at 23 minutes. Before you know it, you’d be in school at two hours old. By mid-morning, you’d be a teenager, graduating by 3 hours and 20 minutes. Your first full-time job would come by 5 or 6 hours, and you’d have your own place around 7.5 hours in.
As afternoon arrives, life picks up speed. Your children would already be grown by 17 hours and 10 minutes, and you’d retire at 20 hours. With just four hours left, your time is nearly up.
It’s a shocking realisation. Life, even in its normal span of decades, moves much faster than we think.
Where Does All Our Time Go?
Breaking down our time use over a lifetime reveals some surprising truths. Four hours are spent working, while six hours vanish into entertainment—watching TV, scrolling through social media, and gaming. One hour and 20 minutes disappear in traffic, and 2 hours and 40 minutes go to shopping. Even basic routines like cooking, showering, and getting ready consume a noticeable chunk.
But the most staggering figure? Sleep takes up a full third of our lives—8 hours. That means we only have 16 waking hours each day to create, connect, and experience life. The question is: Are we using them wisely?
The Problem With Living Forever
Now, what if we had the opposite problem—too much time? At first, immortality sounds amazing, but a closer look reveals major downsides.
Work would never end, relationships would stretch for centuries (which might test anyone’s patience), and overpopulation would soon make life unbearable. Resources would become scarce, and even the things we love—art, travel, and adventure—might start to feel meaningless.
It turns out, the beauty of life is in its limits. We treasure moments precisely because they don’t last forever.
How to Use Your Time Wisely
Instead of wishing for more time, the real solution is to use the time we have better. Start by cutting out unnecessary distractions. Limit mindless scrolling, say no to pointless obligations, and focus on things that bring real fulfilment.
Prioritise relationships, learning, and experiences over routine tasks. The future isn’t guaranteed, so don’t put off what truly matters. If your life lasted only 24 hours, would you still wait for “someday”? Make every day count by planning with purpose. Set goals, take action, and most importantly, enjoy the journey.
