Where Does the Time Go?

Do you ever feel like the time is just ticking away and you can't believe how quickly it is all passing you by?

I think about this all the time and came up with some pretty interesting calculations.

First, how much time do we spend sleeping?  We are supposed to get 8 hours nightly but most people get less, so I will assume 6 hours a day.

Weekly: 6 x 7 = 42 hours
Monthly: 42 x 4 = 168 hours (7 days. An entire week per month spent sleeping)
Yearly: 42 x 52 = 2,184 hours (117.25 days. Almost fourth months per year spent sleeping)

Second, how much time do most people spend commuting back and forth to work daily?  I will call it 1 hour, but for most people it may be less.  Or a lot more.

Weekly: 5 hours
Monthly: 5 x 4 = 20 hours
Yearly: 20 x 12 = 240 hours (10 days per year spent on commuting back and forth to work.)

Third, how much time do we spend eating and preparing meals?  Just using round numbers, assume an hour for breakfast and lunch and another 45 minutes for dinner.

Weekly: 1.45  x 7 = 10.15 hours
Monthly: 10.15  x 4 = 40.6 hours
Yearly: 40.6 x 12 =  487.20 hours (2.03 days per year spent eating.)

Fourth, how much time do we spend in the shower and bathroom daily?  Just using round numbers, assume an hour per day.  For some people, it is much more.  For some people, less.

Weekly: 7 hours
Monthly: 28 hours
Yearly: 28 x 12 = 336 hours  (14 days per year spent in the shower and bathroom)

Fifth, how much time do we spend at work?  I will assume an 8 hour work day, 5 days per week.  Many people these days work much more than this. I will leave out 2 weeks for typical vacations.

Weekly: 40 hours
Monthly: 160 hours
Yearly minus vacations:  (160 x 12) - 80 = 1,840 hours (77 days per year spent at work.)


So, let's do one more simple calculation adding all of this up:

117 + 10 + 2 + 14 + 77 = 220 days, or 7.3 months per year are spent doing these activities:  Sleeping, commuting, eating, shower/bathroom, and working.

If you extrapolate these numbers over a 10 year period, we have spent 2,200 days / 73 months / 6 years doing these activities.

Everyone's lifestyle is different so apply these basic calculations to the typical patterns in your life.  You may be surprised by how much time you waste every day, month and year.  There is not much most of us can do about this, but we should all at least be conscious of it and try to make the most of the time that is under our control.

Now, where does all the time go?  Pretty depressing if you ask me..

"I wasted me time, 'til time wasted me."
- Savatage, When the Crowds are Gone.