how much time do we have to do what we want?

i have often come across talented ad guys who say they want to write short stories, trek, shoot, paint, doodle...do stuff dear to their heart...but the refrain is kahaan time milta yaar...

i did a small calculation...and found even for the hopeless ad man who'll stick to this deliciously depraved profession till he's 60...there will always be time to follow his heart...

if you are the mathematically marveled types you can do the calculation for yourself by changing some parameters...here goes...

an average ad man will be a curse on this planet for 75 years.

an average ad man’s wasted youth till date – 30 years.

that leaves another 45 years of existence.

let’s leave the last 5 years for diabetes, dialysis, heart attacks and gonorrhea.

that means 40 years of punishment posting on planet earth.

let’s convert it to hours – 24 x 365 x 40 = 3,50,400 hrs.

let’s budget for 8 hours of bliss in the arms of morpheus – 8 x 365 x 40 = 1,16,800 hrs.

so number of hours we’ll be fully conscious zombies = 2,33,600 hrs.

take into account the time spent by us mindlessly churning briefs, creating ads no one will ever read, wasting hours writing minutes, fighting intellectual battles over trivial products = 5.5 days of slogging per week for 52 weeks = 286 days.

budget for 7 holidays and a 10-day break – that means 269 days of work.

factor in 11 hours of torture every day.

assume the ad man continues to slog till 60. which means 30 more years of drudgery.

all this amounts to – 30 x 11 x 269 = 88,770 hrs of work in a lifetime.

let’s also consider some activities we can’t wish away:

travel time – average 1 hr a day for the next 40 yrs – 1 x 365 x 40 = 14,600 hrs.

essentials (brush, bath, crap, eat, booze, sex) – avg 1.5 hrs a day for 40 yrs = 21,900 hrs.

infotainment (music, movies, tv, net, books, mags) – 3 hrs a day for 40 years = 43,800 hrs.

quality time spent with family – 0.5 hrs on weekdays, 6 hrs total on weekends = 13,520 hrs.

gymming / time spent on shedding beer belly = 2 hrs on weekends = 4,160 hrs.

time spent yapping / socializing with pals, relatives, girl friends = 2 hrs on weekends = 4,160 hrs.

total time spent on sweet nothings = 1,02,140 hrs.

so time spent on empty existence = 88, 770 hrs of work + 1,02,140 hrs of sweet nothings = 1,90,910 hrs.

subtract this from hours we’ll stay awake = 2,33,600 hrs – 1,90,910 hrs = 42,690 hrs.

let’s give ourselves a 75% health quotient (a normal human being has an 80% health quotient. ad people are ulcerous creatures) = so number of healthy hours we'll have for ourselves to do something really creative = 0.75 x 42,690 = 32,017 hrs.

converted from hours to years it means 3.65 yrs to do something extraordinary in an existence of 75 years. apportioning for every conceivable activity in a lifetime 3.65 years to do all you want is not at all that bad guys...

made this calculation when i was 30.