Brief Summary
This video by Ali Abdaal talks about how to manage your time effectively to make time for everything you want to do. It uses a "168 hours" spreadsheet to track how you spend your time each week and identify areas where you can make adjustments. The video highlights that the average person often doesn't have enough time for everything, and strategic sacrifices are necessary to make time for your goals.
- Time management starts with understanding where your hours are going.
- Strategic sacrifices are essential to free up time for your priorities.
- Double-dipping or multitasking can help you make the most of your time.
Introduction
Ali introduces the concept of managing time using a "168 hours" spreadsheet, which represents the total hours in a week. The idea is to input how much time you spend on essential activities like sleep, work, chores, and other commitments. The spreadsheet then calculates how much time you have left for other activities. Ali offers a free download of the spreadsheet and plans to share his own experiences and tips on making time for everything. The video will be divided into two parts: analyzing data from the American Time Use Survey and sharing Ali's personal time management strategies.
How the Average American Spends Their Time
Ali uses data from the American Time Use Survey to fill out the 168-hour spreadsheet, showing how the average American spends their time. He starts with sleep, estimating around 8 hours per night, totaling 56 hours a week. Adding a 30-minute wind-down routine before bed brings the total to 59.5 hours per week on sleep-related activities. Next, he considers work, including an 8-hour workday, a 30-minute lunch break, a 30-minute commute each way, and 45 minutes for getting ready, plus 15 minutes for changing after work. This totals 52.5 hours per week on work-related activities. Ali then factors in food-related activities, estimating 15 minutes for breakfast, 25 minutes for lunch, and 30 minutes for dinner, plus time for preparation and cooking, totaling 12 hours per week. Chores like groceries, cleaning, and laundry add another 6.5 hours per week. The data shows that the average American spends a significant amount of time on entertainment, with 19 hours a week watching TV and movies and 3.5 hours on social media. After allocating time for family and socializing, the spreadsheet shows that the average American has already used up all 168 hours, even without considering childcare.
How I Managed My Time with a Full-time Job
Ali shares his personal experience of managing time while working full-time as a doctor and growing his YouTube channel and business. He slept around 7 hours per night with a 15-minute wind-down routine. He skipped breakfast and opted for quick and easy lunch and dinner options like ready meals or takeaways to save time on cooking. This reduced his time spent on food-related activities to just 2.7 hours per week. He also minimized chores by outsourcing cleaning and reducing grocery shopping. Ali made a strategic sacrifice by cutting out TV and limiting social media to free up more time. He spent around 10 hours a week on his YouTube channel and business, utilizing his commute and lunch breaks to listen to audiobooks and plan content. By making these sacrifices and double-dipping on time, Ali was able to create an extra 31.4 hours per week for his side projects.
Final Thoughts
Ali concludes by emphasizing that making time for everything involves recognizing the 168 hours available each week and understanding where that time is currently being spent. It often comes down to making sacrifices in certain areas to free up time for priorities. He suggests using the 168-hour spreadsheet to track time and identify potential areas for adjustment. Ali advises viewers not to feel bad if they are struggling to make time for everything, as there are physically not enough hours in the week to do everything. He encourages viewers to decide what they are willing to sacrifice, whether it's entertainment, social media, or other activities, to make time for their goals.
