Every country has its own favorite sport, and in ours, it’s football. In Egypt, people spend an excessive amount of time watching football games, whether it's matches between internationally known teams or local clubs. While enjoying football isn’t inherently bad, the frequency and intensity of it can be harmful.
Since I was about 12 years old, I couldn’t help but notice that whenever there’s a football match, taxi drivers would park their cabs to watch the game, making it difficult to find one. I remember thinking to myself: "How much time do they waste watching football?"
Someone might argue: "It’s just a form of entertainment, like watching a movie or a series." But the key difference is that while you can stream movies and shows at your convenience, football matches are only watched live. This means people often delay important tasks to catch a game.
By the time I was 20, I had completed over a hundred online courses on Udemy with much less time than they had spent watching football. Some people call me a nerd for that, but I’m not—I just choose where to direct my time and energy.
It all makes sense when you understand how limited your time and attention are. It makes sense when you grasp the principle of "opportunity cost" and realize that over 60% of our lives are spent on essential activities like sleeping, eating, and other vital functions.
Why do we regret wasting money but rarely feel the same regret about wasting time? Time is not just money; it’s the one resource you can’t buy with money.
As Warren Buffet said: "I can buy anything basically, but I can't buy time."
Wasting money is easier to recover from because every dollar is equivalent to another. But with time, every moment is unique—what you experience at 21 is entirely different from what you experience at 68.
This is just a friendly reminder to safeguard your time. Avoid anything that doesn’t contribute to your growth or make you a better person. Your time is worth much more than you may realize.