Do I Have Enough Time For One More Turn?

In practices we rotate to events based on a strict time schedule and often our teams want one more turn to try a skill or improve upon their penultimate efforts. “Do we have enough time?” they ask. Here is my response to that question:

On average, you’ve got about 79 years on this planet. Sounds like a lot, right? But let’s break it down, add up all the time in your life that you spend doing something, and see just how much of that time you actually have.

First, you’ll spend around a total of 26 of those years sleeping. Yep, that’s right—26 years in dreamland! That leaves you with about 53 years awake. Not bad so far, right?

Then, there’s school. You’ll spend around 6 solid years in classes and studying (hopefully awake). That brings you down to 47 years.

Next up: work. You’ll likely spend about 11 total years of your life working. Goodbye to that time and now we’re down to 36.

Let’s talk traffic. You’ll spend approximately a full year sitting in traffic jams, and if you live in Chicago, more like 3 years! But let’s be optimistic and only subtract for one year, which leaves you with 35 years.

How about all those everyday routines? You’ll spend roughly 3 full years brushing your teeth, showering, and sitting on the toilet (who knew hygiene would cost so much time?). Eating and drinking? That’s another 4 years. Now, you’ve got 28 years left.

Shopping? That’s another 3 years. And doing chores—like cooking, cleaning, and vacuuming—that eats up 6 years. Child care? Only about another 2 years. We’re down to 17 years.

And now the big one: screen time. Between computers, phones, tablets, and TVs, the average person spends about 9 straight years looking at screens. With today’s tech-savvy (read as obsessed) generation, though, we’re going to round it up to 11 years. So, now, we’re down to just 6 years.

So here it is: you’ve got only 6 years left to explore the world, and practice in the gym. When you think about it, that’s not a lot. In fact, you’ll have spent as much time on the can as you have on doing something you love!

So go ahead—take that extra turn.