Why Is It Important To Be Selfish With Your Time

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is - C.S. Lewis

I have always been apprehensive about stating one truth about myself. This apprehension arises every time someone asks me, especially in the situation of a job interview, what are my strengths and weaknesses. While I have been able to give the answers quite convincingly, I usually never tell people that my greatest strength is that I am selfish with my time.

Writing this piece has helped me ponder on the reasons that I hold back from this confession. I use the word confession intentionally because accepting this notion that I am selfish, at some level feels like a minor crime. So after some introspection, I was able to get down to the root cause of this feeling of apprehension.

Growing up, I was always told and taught to be selfless, caring, and community bound. For a ton of reasons that teaching was right. From understanding what it means to have a collective thought process that is inclusive of everybody, to being there for one another in the good and bad times, this method did teach me a great deal. However, this teaching and lifestyle of being selfless also meant that I put others first. That means I put myself second or third, if not last.

As I got older this teaching started conflicting with my beliefs and priorities. For once I was choosing to be selfish and think of myself first, and not second or third. When I started understanding the relevance of time, that is when I began to get more and more selfish about it. Most of us always chase financial freedom. I too was included in that list for the longest time. Instead what we should be chasing is freedom of time.

The freedom to do whatever it is you want with your life, whenever you want.

Before I get into the reasons why it is important to be selfish with your time, I would like to share a perspective I came across in a Tim Ferris Podcast, where Graham Duncan quantifies Time in a very fascinating way. This thought of his validated my belief of being selfish with my time to a whole new level.

The concept of Time Billionaires

Graham said, “People don't really