Time is like money. You need decide whether to spend it now or invest for the future. One difference is that you can’t save it for later. Although we all have the same amount of time each day, we don’t know how many days we have.

If you spend it all and don’t invest for the future, you might regret it later. Avoiding education or training might seem like a good idea when you’re young, but not so much later in life. Invest it all now, you might never get a chance to spend it. Waiting until retirement to realize your dreams of travel or other passions is not recommended.

The key is to find a balance that satisfies you now and sets you up for the future. How do you know whether you are spending or investing your time? Consider the effect of what you’re doing on the future.

If you invest time in getting about 8 hours of sleep, almost everything else will be better. Better health and performance make sleep one of the best investments you can make. If you think sleep is a waste of time, you’re ignoring the fact that sleep deprivation is like being drunk.

Watching funny cat videos is amusing and can relieve some stress, but more than a few minutes is not going to pay off much. Be careful about getting lost in the endless world of internet videos. You can’t get the time back.

Exercise can be an investment, paying back with longevity and quality of life. Past a certain point you give up the benefits. Training for marathons or competitive sports may cost you longevity or quality of life later.

How much of your time do you spend versus invest?