In the first 8 hours, everyone is working; in the second 8 hours, everyone is sleeping; the third 8 hours is at your own disposal.
The gap between people is mainly determined by how we use the third 8 hours. Generally, there are three ways to spend time: consuming, trading, and investing.
Consuming means spending time on eating, playing games, entertainment, zoning out, and the like, allowing yourself to relax so you can be in a better state.
Trading means directly exchanging time for tangible value, such as doing a side business or part-time work for money, working overtime in exchange for time off, or for overtime pay.
Investing means using time for learning and improving abilities. Although it cannot be exchanged for value immediately, it gives you the chance to make your future self more valuable.
Everyone differs in how urgently they need to grow, how short on money they are right now, how much room they have to advance, and other factors. How people allocate their third 8 hours varies too—any approach is worth encouraging, as long as you always keep a reasonable amount for investing in yourself and don't indulge in spending. And once you choose to invest, try to secure at least two hours of uninterrupted time. This is the key point of the Three-8-Hours Theory, because many things, such as learning and thinking, can only be done in uninterrupted time. Two continuous uninterrupted hours are worth far more than 8 quarter-hours.