Meditation is free and does not take a lot of time. Anyone can meditate, nobody is too busy to have 15 or 20 minutes a day for meditation. The same goes for exercise. 1 hour is 4% of the day.
Work is minimum 8 hours. Add another 2-3 hours for commuting, getting ready for work, and getting ready for being home. Add about 2 hours for cooking and clean up.
So far we’re at 12-13 hours. Add at least 7 hours for sleep (and sometimes turning in bed). We’re now at 19-20 hours. Add about an hour a day of incidentals that come up (social expectations, phone calls with family, etc). Add about two hours if you have kids.
Now we’re at 22-23 hours. Add an hour to two for entertainment and that’s your day.
Now you can change up the math a bit, and you’ll see that “only 4% of the day” is just a bad system for measuring time.
It's not miscalculated. The calculation is exactly right. It's really about how you choose to spend that time.
The time split you did isn't set in stone, you can change most of that. Don't cook for an hour, move cleaning up into the weekend. 2-3 hours is a long commute, consider remote work or getting a job closer to where you are. 8 hours is a typical office workday but other arrangements are possible from contract work to 4-on-4-off type jobs.
I'm not saying that changing these things matches your lifestyle or what you want to do, simply that they are within your means to change (very likely) and that they are a decision. Even a decision that's not consciously made, like falling into a routine that everyone is doing, is ultimately a decision.
So you see, if you’re not at least middle class a lot of these options (go remote, for example. Or shorten your commute) are not realistically achievable.
Again, I'm sure that everyone has 10 spare minutes each day at a minimum to meditate. You can meditate even during a commute. It's your choice to make the time if it's important to you. Nobody is so busy to be unable to meditate even for 10-15 minutes.
Work is minimum 8 hours. Add another 2-3 hours for commuting, getting ready for work, and getting ready for being home. Add about 2 hours for cooking and clean up.
So far we’re at 12-13 hours. Add at least 7 hours for sleep (and sometimes turning in bed). We’re now at 19-20 hours. Add about an hour a day of incidentals that come up (social expectations, phone calls with family, etc). Add about two hours if you have kids.
Now we’re at 22-23 hours. Add an hour to two for entertainment and that’s your day.
Now you can change up the math a bit, and you’ll see that “only 4% of the day” is just a bad system for measuring time.
Things I didn’t include:
- bureaucracy related stuff, governmental stuff
- healthcare
- education
- elder care