20-80 Formula of Life

Dreamstime

Life can be very hard to live for all of us at some point or the other. We get bothered by something or the other, we get bored, we get frustrated and we lose hope from time to time. These are like recurring episodes, it is natural to have such feelings but it is not good to have them at regular intervals. When we see our lives, we see too far and get scared of the future, due to past failures. In most cases than not, work stress is the biggest problem a person can face in his/her life. We take work issues to home and its effect is on the family and friends. We don't enjoy our lives in the present, instead we think about problems at work. If we are not capable of doing our work then the person who hired us should be a fool. In most occasions than not, it is not true. We are very much capable of doing our work but we think we cannot. The amount of time we have in hand is a lot compared to the time we spend on work. Let see if it is true....

• There are 168 hours in a week. (Imagine these are not hours but dollars and we are asked to spend them properly in a week)
• Say we spend 56 hours (8 hours per day) for sleep
• The balance is 112 hours
• Officially we are paid for 40 hours a week, so lets take those off
• Balance 72 hours ( equivalent to 3 days)
• Lets spend 30 hours on our daily routine (cooking, bathing, brushing, travelling to work and so on)
• Balance is 42 hours (Almost 2 days); equal to 25% of total time.
• These 42 hours can be spent for entertainment, phone calls, internet, time with family and friends and other hobbies.

Analysis: (approx. numbers)

• Sleep : 33.3%
• Extra/personal time: 25%
• Work: 23%
• Routine: 17.8%

These may vary based on who you are and how you live your life but, in general, most of us fit into this. There is no point in reducing the sleep hours, i think some people over do things (by sleeping less) and burn themselves down in the long run. It is important to have 8 hours of sleep (7 is OK). Work; even though it says 23%, we don't really spend that much time doing work (we spend some time checking emails, phone calls, internet, coffee, friends, chatting with co-workers, meetings and so on). So, I would say, taking into account of the work we do at home sometimes, the most we work is only 20% of total time (or less in a week). But this 20% is important for other 80% to be good. Without spending 20% of time on working, we could not have a good sleep, a good routine and we could not have fun time with friends and family. Most people ignore or take this 20% for granted. Working for 20% of the time is actually responsible for 80% of happiness in life. The extra/personal/family time we have (25%) is very important, how we spend this time determines whether we will be just happy or both happy and successful. Most part of this 25% can be spent for TV alone or Internet alone and be just happy or take some time to hone one's skills and learn something new. The one's who are constantly in search of learning more to improve themselves end up not only being happy but satisfied. The people who complain about not having time and about their job are those who do not have skills to prioritize their 20% work time. If one really focuses on work at Job, they usually don't have to complain about things not getting done. These people give more importance to the 80% rather than 20%. Its like a sports star giving importance to ad campaign, as it gets him more money. Ads come, when he is at the top of the game not otherwise. These ads (in our case extra/personal time) is the fruit of what we do and how we do at work during that 20% of time. We will still have that 80% time even after not doing well at work but we will not be peaceful and completely happy at home. 
The conclusion is, we have lot of time; when we prioritize things that matter. Time cannot be borrowed or lended like money and it is important to spend our time in a right way. You can earn lost money but not time. Since time is such a valuable thing, do not waste it on past and future and things that don't matter. Spend time only on those which are necessary for you. Don't spend time on something just because it is easy to do or because everyone is doing. When you see time as money (or more important than that), the only way one can benefit is by using it then and there (living in the present). It cannot be taken forward or backwards. You waste it....You lose it. Thats it !!!!!!!!!!

There are ways to prioritize time, which i will discuss at a later time.