The concept of Full Time Free Time flew out of my mouth on a Zoom the other day. I thought, yep, that’s how I roll. I think it sums up what my LifeInFIRE is all about. I’m aware that others may get different results.
Free time can be used for anything. You can do nothing or attempt to do everything—that you want.
I will share two moments of my day and how my brain signals are activating.
Morning wake up. When I wake up I usually check my morning heart rate and heart rate variability. These two numbers then feed into my sleep metrics for my apple watch and Oura ring. I then review my sleep stats to see if I did fine. Usually, my sleep is in the 85-95% range of each tool. That’s pretty good for a Type A minus personality…a 91% student.
I then pull in my new podcasts and check my gmails for anything interesting.
I usually spend 5-10 minutes just thinking about my life, my day, and whatever I think in my head and kind of get into a full-on gratitude state. “Find The Positive” is something I work on…once in a while. This is the part of the day where full-time, free time is felt in my core being.
One thing I never do anymore is cancel my workout if I feel tired. I used to do that a long time ago and often found out that once I was up and moving around I felt fine and could do my planned workout.
Did I mention that the timing of this process, opening my eyes through getting out of bed, happens whenever I want?. I then do my morning commute and then sit by the pool and read for a while, while listening to cars drive down my street headed for work.
At some point after this, I do some of the things I want to do that morning. These are rarely planned ahead of time,
Falling asleep at night.
When I go to bed at night—which can be at any time I want because the morning comes when I wish—most of the time I lay there and think about tomorrow’s freedom. Then I think about today’s freedom and try and the greatness of this previous day. Often, I lay there and think “If I could do anything, what would it be?”
When I think about the fact that I start and end my day by thinking about my amazing—yet simple—life, It makes things even better.
So back to my evening question of “If I could do anything…” When I stop and think about this question, am I asking: am I able to do what I dream, or am I dreaming? In other words, am I trying to plan for the future or am I relishing the present?
I’m not going to waste your time with my philosophical answer, other than, I wish it to be the former.
HOW?
Those reading this who’ve saved up for decades know this is not bragging. Those who’ve lived below your income and enjoyed life—with no or little deprivation—probably face this dilemma as well. It is the can I/should I do/buy ABC thing.
Let’s talk about ability. If you saved and deferred your gratification on spending, then you essentially have deferred spending accounts. Mike Piper’s book on Enough basically states, your money has two options, 1) you spend it or 2) you give it away somehow.
It is very clear: you cannot take your money with you after your heart stops beating. It may be a really good idea to plan for its use (all, most, some, a little, contingency) ASAP.
What is the point of money? Money is for transactions. That can be traded for ABC, paid in taxes, for others to use for ABC, etc. Who do you want to determine what transactions your earned money is used for?
I suggest the most valuable commodity is (healthy) time. For the past 9-years (actually 30 yrs of income) I have chosen to balance my money with my time. In our current state, we (seem to) have enough money set aside to own all of our time, therefore, we are full-time, free-time.
Repetition?
I know many of the thoughts above have been shared in my blog thoughts before, but the fact that I’m consciously still thinking about this topic almost 9-years into FIRE seems like this is a prevalent theme in my current existence.
I thought the term existential was a crisis of being or not-being after death. How important one is to the world during and after life. I thought I had no concerns about my personal existentialism, as when I’m gone, I’m gone-dust and floating energy. But the Google tells me existentialism is more about ones now and how someone interprets or handles their now. At least that’s what I’m taking from the three “open link in new tab” actions I took when “learning” the definition of existential. Hmmm, interesting. (side note: I’m always learning. I’m a learner. I find this practice fully enveloping)
So if Oxford says “the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will” is the definition, then wow, full-time, free-time might just be a huge foundational piece of my existence.
Should your time be required to be productive? Should to always be bettering something? Can someone’s self-worth be acceptably linked to their own internal desires with no outside pressure of consequence from some social police? I believe if you are enjoying life, the odds are that your great attitude will flow to others at the very least.
How do you think about your resources and time?
*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice. I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be. You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.