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Don’t waste time, because that’s “the stuff life is made of.”

It was good advice when Ben Franklin said it, and it’s good advice now, no matter your age.

But your 20s are a particularly crucial time in life — many call these the “formative” years, and the habits you form in your 20s can carry you through the rest of your life.

So what’s the best way to spend this time? 

We sifted through a number of Quora threads and TED talks to find out.

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Work on important life skills.

There are a number of life skills people need to master, and your 20s is the time to start practicing. Without the pressure of parents or school to motivate you, you’ll need to exercise discipline and motivate yourself to learn the essentials.

These skills can range from patience and dealing with rejection to living within your means and good table manners.

Read.

“There is nothing that will help you more than reading,” says Deepak Mehta. 

He suggests a wide variety of books, from young adult fiction to law, from Dickens to Tzu, to learn more about contrasting viewpoints. “Do not be afraid of coming across a convincing viewpoint that is totally antithetical to yours,” he says.

Reading is also a great way to exercise your mind, says Jereme Allison, because it activates almost all areas of the mind. “The mind is a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it,” he says.

Take preventative measures to stay healthy.

Francesco Wang refers to this as “life-extending” time.

“Investing time in caring for your health … will certainly yield you more time, literally — in days, months, if not years tacked on to your life,” he writes. “Yet we often take our health for granted until we experience a wake-up call.”

Instead, he suggests proactively investing your time in your health by eating well, exercising regularly, getting plenty of sleep, regularly seeing your doctors, and taking care of your emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

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