Time Conversion Made Easy: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, and Beyond

Time conversion seems straightforward until you need to figure out exactly how many minutes are in 2.5 hours, or how many weeks are in 1,000 hours. These calculations come up frequently in project management, fitness tracking, and everyday planning.

Basic Time Conversions

• 1 minute = 60 seconds
• 1 hour = 60 minutes = 3,600 seconds
• 1 day = 24 hours = 1,440 minutes = 86,400 seconds
• 1 week = 7 days = 168 hours
• 1 month ≈ 30.44 days = 730.5 hours (average)
• 1 year = 365.25 days = 8,766 hours = 525,960 minutes

The 10,000 Hour Rule

Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that 10,000 hours of practice leads to mastery. What does that look like in practice?

• 3 hours/day = 9.1 years
• 4 hours/day = 6.8 years
• 8 hours/day (full-time) = 3.4 years

Work Time Calculations

• Standard work week: 40 hours
• Work hours per year: ~2,080 (52 weeks × 40 hours)
• Work days per year: ~260 (52 weeks × 5 days)
• With holidays/vacation: ~230-240 work days

Converting Decimal Time

Timesheet software often uses decimal hours:

• 0.25 hours = 15 minutes
• 0.5 hours = 30 minutes
• 0.75 hours = 45 minutes
• 1.5 hours = 90 minutes

To convert: multiply the decimal part by 60 to get minutes.

Interesting Time Facts

• A million seconds ≈ 11.6 days
• A billion seconds ≈ 31.7 years
• A trillion seconds ≈ 31,710 years
• Light travels 299,792 km in 1 second