【Student Question】 Hello, Master. My state of mind has been unstable lately. I feel caught in an emotional whirlpool, unable to break free. I’ve been thinking about questions like: how do I spend the rest of my life? What is the scarcest thing I possess? I’m wondering how I can escape this whirlpool. I hope Master can offer some guidance.
【Master Chi’s Response】 In situations like this, the best thing you can do is step back and reflect — to genuinely examine your own life. This is, in fact, a good way to escape the whirlpool.
To truly examine yourself is to ask: what is most scarce across the entire span of your life? And what is your most important resource?
For both questions, the answer is time.
Yet most people make mistakes when it comes to allocating time. So how do we properly assess the value of time?
Many people believe a simple, straightforward method is to measure saved time by the money it saves.
Take this example: you walk into a store intending to buy a computer priced at 4,000 yuan. The salesperson tells you that one of their branch stores is currently running a promotional discount on this very model. That branch is a 20-minute drive away. You’ve already decided — you’re buying the computer today. So do you buy it here, or drive 20 minutes to the other store? Or, put another way: what is the minimum discount at the other store that would actually make you willing to drive over?
This is a trade-off we all face — time versus money. How much savings would make that trip worthwhile?
This brings us to the deeper question: how do we use time more wisely, both for our own benefit and for the benefit of others?
Time is often scarcer than money.
When we spend money to buy time — that is, when we pay others to do the tedious or unpleasant tasks we’d rather not do — we tend to be happier. This could be gardening, cooking, troubleshooting a computer, and so on.
When it comes to allocating your time, here is what you must understand.
Make a list. Look at the majority of activities and commitments you’re currently involved in. Are they a genuinely good use of your time? Or are some of them simply draining it away?
At the individual level, if a person can complete a task at a lower opportunity cost than others, they hold a comparative advantage — and that is where their time belongs.
In marriage, when one partner takes on a task, the other does not necessarily need to take on a corresponding one in return. But both partners must recognize that making wise trade-offs — across different tasks, across time — will bring long-term benefit to both. This, it turns out, is also rather sound marital advice.
The principle is simple: spend your time where you hold a comparative advantage, and you will get far more from the hours you have.