The Currency of Time

Imagine I gave you a bank account that deposited $86,400 into it every single day—with one catch: at the end of the day, whatever you didn’t spend would vanish. How would you spend it?

You’d take a vacation! You’d pay off that debt! You’d go back to school! You’d quit your job and write your memoir! You’d be able to give—to your family, your friends, your community—in all the ways you’ve always wanted! Not to mention the self-care, delicious meals, a nice car, a home renovation…

When we think of having a guaranteed stream of money, instantly our thoughts go to how we would enact all of our desires and dreams, as though money is the only deterrent to us living our most fulfilled, value-driven experience. But what if I told you that you are given a precious, finite resource every single day? This resource is worth so much, it’s priceless but we rarely spend any of it consciously and almost blame it for not being able to do the things we truly want.

This resource is time.

We’re given 86,400 seconds every day. And yet unlike money, which we can earn back, save, or borrow, time is one currency we can never replenish. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

We say things like “I don’t have time” or “I lost track of time,” but rarely do we stop and ask ourselves: What am I spending my time on? Who am I spending it with? And why?

It’s easy to get caught in the blur of routine and obligation. But when we forget the value of time, we begin to spend it on things that drain us rather than fill us. We give our time away to fear, to resentment, to scrolling, to comparison. We use it to prove our worth instead of expanding our purpose.

But when we truly understand that time is limited—and sacred—we begin to treat it with reverence. We get choosier. Braver. More present. We stop wasting it on the things that don’t matter and start investing it in the things that do. The Stoics may not have had day jobs, emails, or mortgages but they understood this. Seneca said, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”

The kabbalists understood this, too. The Zohar teaches that each of us is born with a certain number of days. No more. No less. What we do with those days is up to us. When we stop and really take into account the preciousness of our days and the allotted time within them, one question comes into stark focus:

How do I want to spend this one, unrepeatable day?

Here are three simple ways to make the most of the time you have:

Live Intentionally, Not Reactively

Start each day by setting an intention. When we set an intention for how we want to experience our day, we are less likely to blindly respond to whatever life throws our way. Ask yourself: What kind of energy do I want to bring to today? If we choose to spend our day in joy or in calm, we will more likely respond from those states of being.

Protect Your Yes

Every “yes” is a “no” to something else. Be mindful of where and why you say yes. Is it coming from alignment or obligation? Are you giving your time out of guilt or love? Protect your “yes” like it’s your most prized possession—because it is.

Be Where Your Feet Are

Presence is the ultimate time hack, it can turn 20 minutes into an entire afternoon. If you’re with your children, be with them. If you’re working, give it your full attention. When we are fully present, time expands. We’re not chasing the next moment—we’re inhabiting this one.

Time is the container for your life. It can be stretched and it can be shrunk, but it can’t be repeated or returned. It has provided for you every beautiful experience you have ever had, and even now, it holds you and your entire life. Spend it in a way that makes you feel alive. In a way that will have you feeling perfectly expressed and proud of how you exhausted it.

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