by Oli Anderson, Transformational Coach for Realness
Everything Has An Opportunity Cost – Even When You’re Doing ‘Nothing’
These days, there’s a strange kind of badge of honour in saying things like: “I just want to switch off and binge Netflix” (and sometimes ‘chill’, of course).
Fair enough, I guess – sometimes, we really do just need to collapse into the couch and melt into a human-potatoesque puddle. Life is busy, after all and so you’re probably juggling work, relationships, health, ambitions, and the sheer existential weight of being alive in the 21st century.
When you’ve been giving it your all, some vegetative goblin time is well earned.
But let’s get real for a moment because not all downtime is created equal – in fact, there’s two main types:
1) Downtime that restores and re-aligns you with your purpose
2) Downtime that distracts and drags you further from it.
The opportunity cost of how you relax might just be one of the most overlooked factors in whether or not you’re actually building the life you want.
Let’s dig a little deeper:
Downtime Matters: What We’ll Cover in this Article
- Everything Has An Opportunity Cost – Even When You’re Doing ‘Nothing’
- The Truth About Opportunity Cost & Downtime
- Veg Out, But Do It Consciously
- Reading as a Radical Act
- Are You Up or Down the Mountain?
- Why Insight Beats Escapism
- The Dialysis Perspective
- So What Should You Do Instead?
- Downtime: The Final Word
The Truth About Opportunity Cost & Downtime
Everything has an opportunity cost which basically means that when you choose to spend time doing one thing, you’re saying ‘no’ to something else. Really, this is just basic economics but – when it comes to our time – most people seem to forget this completely.
Netflix, TikTok, video games, endless YouTube rabbit holes – none of these things are evil in themselves but they all come at a cost:
When those things become your default mode of ‘relaxation’, especially if you’re not where you want to be in life, then you’re not relaxing – you’re retreating from life.
Even worse, you’re postponing your growth and – in a roundabout way – trading your REAL life for virtual fluff that can only ever be a pale imitation of the real deal.
It’s not that we need to be ‘productive’ every second of every day – that’s not the point.
It’s that we need to make conscious choices about the way we unwind:
When you’re still on the climb – trying to build a business, find your voice, grow into your potential, or simply feel more real and escape the Void – then numbing yourself with passivity is like putting your goals on mute.
This is why your downtime matters: it can be an opportunity to become who you most want to become.
Veg Out, But Do It Consciously
Sometimes, sure, your body just wants to vegetate:
You’ve been running around like a lunatic all week, your nervous system’s frazzled, and the idea of reading or self-reflecting feels like mental weightlifting. Fine. Honour it. Lay down. Reboot.
Order that pizza, watch something silly, and go full sofa slug.
But let that be the exception, not the rule:
If you’re defaulting to low-effort distractions every night and calling it self-care, then what you’re really doing is giving your time away and devaluing it (and your time, energy, and attention are the most valuable assets you have because you’re going to be DEAD one day).
Worse still, you’re making it easier for those who are serious about their goals to lap you without even trying. Not that it’s a competition or whatever, but very hour you spend in the passive loop of some doomscroll vortex is an hour someone else is using to read, grow, write, build, or serve.
What kind of person do you want to be?
Reading as a Radical Act
Want a better life? Read.
Seriously, make reading your default form of entertainment and insight. I know that sounds almost crazy in a world where we all have dwindling attention spans but reading is probably the best way to turn your downtime into an investment of your time.
Choose a subject you’re drawn to – philosophy, business, health, psychology, spirituality, storytelling, whatever – and get three or four books on it.
Absorb them. Let the pages challenge you. Let them shake your assumptions. Let them plug you into a bigger perspective.
Books contain every major process and breakthrough our species has ever known and most of them are cheap, portable, and far more effective than any overpriced course.
Best of all, they’re yours. No ads. No dopamine manipulation designed to keep you ‘hooked’ and endlessly addicted. It’s just you and the author’s mind – a kind of telepathy that can transcend the ages.
Not only that but reading builds your character, deepens your thought, and sharpens your voice and that voice is what you’ll eventually use to lead, create, or contribute.
Compared to this, watching another season of reality TV feels like eating stale crisps for dinner when you could be having a gourmet meal.
Are You Up or Down the Mountain?
Here’s a bit of a caveat:
If you’ve already “made it” – you’re earning well, your vision’s clear, your life is aligned – then you’ve earned a bit more room to drift, to lounge, to veg out here and there because you’re not just climbing the mountain anymore; you’re surveying and enjoying the view.
But if you’re still on the way up? If you’re still feeling stuck, lost, unfulfilled, or like you’ve not tapped your real potential yet?
Then you don’t have time to waste – pure and simple. Every hour matters and every day that slides by without traction or momentum is another day that your dream is deferred (or maybe even slipping through your fingers completely).
If you’re not at the top of the mountain yet, TV and video games are probably the worst blackholes for your time, energy, and attention; they’re almost never a ‘neutral’ use of downtime because they’re opportunity thieves.
The bottom line is that when you’re in the middle of a personal revolution, passive escapism isn’t rest – it’s resistance to doing what you need to do to grow REAL.
Check out my book ‘Trust: A Manual in Becoming the Void, Building Flow, and Finding Peace‘ if you want to level up, read something that will give you insight, and start taking real action.
Why Insight Beats Escapism
A lesson that’s served me over the years is knowing that INSIGHT is the only thing that can actually change your life.
Not time. Not repetition. Not just trying harder. Insight.
Insight is so powerful because every time you have one of those “Aha!” moments then you’re letting go of old patterns and you’ve made new connections that take you a little bit closer to the truth (which means you’ve raised awareness, can accept things more, and can take better action).
Reading is one of the simplest ways to access that insight because you expose yourself to new frameworks, challenge the ones you’ve held onto, and stretch your mind into new configurations. That’s the stuff that changes you and allows you to transform your life from the inside-out.
Of course, you have to make sure you’re reading high-quality books, but – either way – watching TV, on the other hand, gives you just enough stimulation to feel engaged, without the challenge or demand of transformation.
It’s an illusion of satisfaction – a sedative, not a solution.
The Dialysis Perspective
Here’s something I know firsthand: your time is precious.
At time of writing, I’ve spent 18-years of my life attached to a dialysis machine 3 times a week for 4 hours at a time.
And you know what I do while I’m hooked up? I read. I write. I learn.
Not because I’m so smart or whatever but because I know that when life limits your time, you learn how to use it well.
I wasn’t always this way; I used to waste time like it was free.
But health, purpose, and mortality have a funny way of sharpening your vision and – when you you realise you’re not here forever – every minute counts.
So What Should You Do Instead?
Relax, yes. But relax on purpose.
Rest doesn’t have to mean retreating from life – it can mean recharging within life.
The truth is that it can be deeply nourishing, soul-fuelling, and growth-enhancing to relax and still move forward at the same time.
Practical Steps to Upgrade Your Downtime
1. Audit Your Time:
Track how you currently spend your evenings and weekends and be honest with yourself:
How much is passive entertainment? How much is purposeful presence or growth?
2. Reframe Rest:
Instead of asking, “How can I switch off?” when the evenings and weekends bring you some downtime ask yourself, “What kind of rest actually fills me up?”
A walk in nature? Journaling? Yoga? Reading? Deep conversation?
There’s got to be something that really makes you feel more like ‘You’ so you can take that feeling of realness out into the rest of your life.
3. Create a Reading Ritual:
Set a time each day to read – even ten minutes is better than nothing (and compounds to 70 minutes a week).
Stack it with another habit (like morning tea or before bed), keep a list of books that support your growth, and make sure you’re reading things that challenge your thinking and give you that insight (“Aha!”).
4. Challenge Your Inputs:
Avoid defaulting to the same types of content by exploring books or essays that stretch your worldview. Read outside your comfort zone.
5. Use Tech Intentionally:
Limit your entertainment apps to a set time or use tools like website blockers – don’t let the algorithm dictate your attention and literally suck the life out of you.
(Imagine looking back on your life on your deathbed and all you see is screens and pixels).
6. Decide Where You Are:
Are you still climbing the mountain or already at the top?
Be brutally honest.
Your level of freedom in downtime depends on your level of alignment in life.
If you’re not where you need and want to be, then use your downtime for growth more than vegetation.
7. Define Your Code:
Write your personal philosophy:
What matters to you? What are you building?
Revisit it often and let it remind you that every moment is a brick in the house of your life.
Downtime: The Final Word
You don’t need to become some productivity maniac who shuns all fun and ends up being a control freak all the time but, if you want to live a real, meaningful life – one that aligns with your purpose and potential – then your downtime has to support your mission and growth, not sabotage it.
Insight over escapism. Intention over inertia. Realness over routine.
Read more, waste less time, and grow daily.
Stay real out there,
P.S. If you’re interested in coaching and you’re ready to reclaim your time and grow real, then book a free coaching session with me today and I’ll help you start building momentum.
*This article was based on #33: Read / TV in Personal Revolutions: A Short Course in Realness
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