You ever have one of those days where everything that could go wrong, does?
That was me recently.
Five hours driving up to Manchester to film a vlog for my channel.
Excited, caffeine-fuelled, ready to crush it. The kind of road trip that starts full of energy and ends with your brain melted from the same ten songs cycling on the radio.
At one point, I remember thinking, “This is five hours I’ll never get back.”
But mid-drive, something clicked.
Instead of letting that time slip away, I switched to an online course I’d been meaning to start. Nothing fancy, just something about improving focus and productivity. As I listened, I realised this dead time I was wasting didn’t have to be dead at all.
It could actually be alive time.
The Idea That Changed How I See Time
There’s this concept I came across (I think from James Clear, though Ryan Holiday and Robert Greene talk about it too).
Alive time vs Dead time.
Here’s what it means in simple terms:
- Dead time is when you’re just letting life happen to you. You’re waiting, scrolling, zoning out, doing things that don’t really move you forward.
- Alive time is when you’re learning, growing, building, or doing something that nudges you closer to where you want to be.
Same amount of time. Very different results.
And that hit me hard.
Because most of my life had been dead time disguised as being busy.
We Think We’re Busy, But We’re Just Distracted
Most people don’t realise how much of their life goes into default mode.
You wake up, maybe scroll your phone for 15 minutes (okay, 45). You get ready, commute, do your 9 to 5, come home, half-watch Netflix while texting people you don’t really want to talk to, and before you know it another day is gone.
You’ve been awake, sure, but not alive.
That’s dead time.
And here’s the realisation that changed everything for me:
Freedom doesn’t start when you quit your job. It starts when you stop wasting time.
You can be in a 9 to 5 and still start living like someone building freedom.
That’s alive time.
The Airport Lesson
After that Manchester trip, I ended up stuck in Newark Airport for three hours because of a delayed flight.
Classic. I’d already been travelling all day and all I wanted to do was get home. For the first hour, I mindlessly scrolled through Instagram, checked emails I didn’t care about, and watched random reels. Total dead time.
Then I caught myself thinking, “Wait, you literally just talked about this in a vlog. Are you going to practice what you preach or what?”
So I flipped it.
I opened my Notes app, started brainstorming some video ideas.
Then drafted this exact blog you’re reading.
Then outlined a few things I wanted to focus on next in my business.
Three hours later, I looked up and realised something.
The delay was the same.
But I was different.
That’s alive time.
Why This Matters (Especially If You Want Freedom)
A lot of people who follow me are chasing one thing: freedom.
Freedom from the 9 to 5.
Freedom from asking for time off.
Freedom from doing things that don’t light you up inside.
But here’s the catch. If you can’t use your current time well, you won’t automatically become free when you have more of it.
Freedom isn’t about quitting your job. It’s about retraining how you use your time.
Because the truth is, free time doesn’t always equal freedom.
If you still use your hours reacting, scrolling, and waiting for motivation, you’ll just become a full-time procrastinator instead of a full-time employee.
Alive time turns that around.
It’s how you start becoming free before you actually are.
The Secret to Building a Freedom Business (While Still Working Your 9 to 5)
Everyone wants to start their own thing. A side hustle, a YouTube channel, a business that gives them control. The barrier isn’t always money or knowledge.
It’s time. Or at least the illusion that you don’t have any.
But if you track your days honestly, you’ll probably find pockets of dead time everywhere:
- The 30 minutes before work.
- The commute.
- Your lunch break.
- Your evenings when you’re tired and “just need to switch off.”
That’s the space where people either stay stuck forever or quietly build empires.
If you have one hour a day that you flip from dead to alive time, that’s 365 hours a year.
That’s nine 40-hour work weeks of pure creation time.
Nine.
You can build an entire side business with that kind of time.
How to Turn Dead Time Into Alive Time
Let’s talk about how to actually do this in a simple, realistic way.
1. Turn Your Commute Into a Classroom
Long drives, bus rides, train trips. All of it can be dead time unless you flip it.
Listen to audiobooks or podcasts around something you want to learn. Marketing, mindset, content creation, anything that moves you closer to freedom.
Don’t just be entertained. Be educated.
2. Notes, Notes, Notes
If you randomly get an idea, write it down.
Notes app, Notion, even voice memos. Capture ideas when they come. Half of my content starts in the weirdest places — grocery queues, waiting for coffee, walking the dog.
Dead time turns alive when you start listening to your brain instead of muting it.
3. Reflect Instead of React
Most people fill “wait time” with noise — scrolling, checking, watching.
Try sitting in silence and actually thinking.
Ask yourself:
- What’s working in my life right now?
- What’s not?
- What’s one thing I could do differently tomorrow?
Five minutes of reflection is worth more than an hour of distraction.
4. Chunk Your Actions
You don’t need three-hour work blocks to make progress. Most early creators waste time waiting for a “perfect moment.” But freedom is built in the messy middle, in the 15-minute bursts when you choose to do something.
Outline your video idea.
Design your landing page.
Upload one TikTok.
Message one potential client.
Small steps done consistently are what lead to freedom. Alive time multiplies when you move.
5. Build Your Alive Time Toolkit
Have your go-to tools ready for those in-between moments:
- Podcasts that inspire
- Courses or lessons downloaded
- Templates, scripts, or business notes
- A book you can open anytime
You’ll remove friction. And friction is what kills momentum.
The Real Truth About Freedom
Most people think freedom is the end goal. That you quit your job and then life begins.
But if you talk to anyone who’s done it, they’ll tell you something different.
Freedom is built before you leave.
In how you show up every day while still stuck in that 9 to 5.
The habits, the mindset, the small decisions you build now are what will sustain you once you’re out.
So if you ever catch yourself saying,
“When I finally have more time, I’ll start…”
No, you won’t. You’ll just have more time to procrastinate.
The switch from dead to alive time starts today. Right where you are.
Alive Time is About Awareness
This isn’t about grinding or being “productive” every second. That’s toxic hustle culture stuff.
Alive time is about awareness.
It’s noticing when you’re checking out instead of checking in.
It’s catching yourself before autopilot kicks in.
It’s asking, “Is what I’m doing right now moving me closer to the life I want?”
And if the answer’s no, do something, anything, that makes it yes.
Alive time isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing with intention.
My Challenge To You
For the next seven days, try this:
Every time you catch yourself stuck — waiting in line, sitting in traffic, scrolling aimlessly, watching something just to kill time — ask one question:
“How can I make this alive time?”
Write one sentence in a notes app.
Brainstorm a content idea.
Listen to an inspiring podcast.
Read a page of a book that grows you.
That’s it. Small switches, huge results.
You don’t need to quit your job to start living differently. You just need to be awake inside the time you already have.
Final Thoughts
Alive time vs dead time isn’t just a productivity hack. It’s a life shift.
Because when you start respecting your time, everything changes:
- You stop seeing yourself as a victim of the system.
- You start acting like someone who’s building something bigger.
- You begin creating freedom piece by piece, right from the seat you’re in now.
And the best part?
No one can take that kind of time from you.
So here’s to living more alive moments every day — in traffic, on flights, at desks, and everywhere in between.
Because at the end of the day, freedom isn’t a destination.
It’s a decision.
Bonus
Quick takeaway: You don’t need to quit your job to start creating freedom.
Flip just one hour of dead time each day into alive time, and watch your future self thank you.
Mindvalley Membership — for when you’re ready to train your mind like you train your business.
(may get commission from affiliates I stand by)
Employed to unemployable -The Life Of a Freedom Based 'Business'. 
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