Bad Time Management: Why "Free" Is Never Really Free

A lot of people misunderstand the word "free." To show you what I mean, let me tell you a short story.

A while ago, I heard about a man who had managed to reconfigure his connection settings in a way that let him make phone calls for free over the internet. (Keep in mind that this was before free internet calling became commonplace.)

The man was obviously proud of his achievement and remarked: "It took me 14 hours to set the system up, but I finally managed to call for free." In my opinion, 14 hours of work is not "free." Anyone who thinks that wasting even one second is "free" hasn't understood the value of time.

It's often said that time is money. I disagree: time is more precious than money. You can always earn money back if you lose it, but you can never bring back a single second of your life! What does this teach us?

Hopefully, it reminds us to use our time wisely and never to waste hours doing something pointless. If you'd like to get more out of your days, read our tips on time management skills.