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Comment by notyourwork | Hacker News Reader

I disagree. Taking a walk around the block is time spent doing something that could be spent otherwise. Everything in life has a cost associated with it. I am not saying a walk around the block or spending extra time at work are bad decision. My point is no time is free, you are always trading one thing for another. Going to the gym, you could be studying. Studying, you could be growing your business. Growing your business you could be spending time with family. Its all a balance in life but to claim your time is free is naive of reality.

edit: To those down voting you are welcome to present a different perspective. A down vote by itself doesn't mean much but I welcome criticism and feedback on my point of view.

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Yes it is a balance, but it's important that we always be mindful not to get caught up in the rat race. Life is a beautiful thing in of itself and shouldn't be fractionalized to achieve maximum ego-gain, nor should it be entirely mismanaged that it dishevels your ego completely.

Your time is free and will continue to be so. As a human, hey you got some time left and if you got goals, well then perhaps you haven't time to waste. Yet, if you wish to speak of "reality", you must tell me who's the one demanding any payment for any second of your time? Is it no one but yourself? Is it not your idea of what that time could have (perhaps _should_ have)? No, that's not reality -- that's your superego, which is in your own head.

You should watch your tongue a little more carefully; it's rude to reply "no time is free" when it's not at all the topic of conversation. You deserved to get downvoted for that reply and the reason you're getting downvoted for this one is that it's too binary. Lighten up. All someone said is "I do this in my free time" and you had to step in as protector of truth and say "no such thing." There's no valor in this behavior.

The original was about how much cost is involved in something and what the break even point is. toomuchtodo asked a financially specific question. The reply to that question was vague and added that part of this cost was done in "free time".

My reply was perfectly suited for that response. It wasn't binary, it was begging the OP who said he/she works in his free time to stop calling it free time and answer the original question.

I'll bite. I didn't downvote, but I feel that your thinking is relatively binary and doesn't take the dynamism of humans into account. I can throw study material onto a playlist and hit the gym. I can go to my kid's dance recital and hit up the other bored parents there with business prospects. I can turn over programming ideas while I'm taking a shower.

In many cases, taking a break from the task at hand has great effects on resetting the fatigue that builds up when you focus too hard on a narrow set of problems. I wouldn't consider those breaks a "cost" when they're ultimately used to allow you to more efficiently use your time while at the same time reducing burnout.

Don't get me wrong - time is finite and it shouldn't be squandered. But at the same time, perhaps what looks like a walk around the block is much more than a 15 minute "cost".

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