Podcast Summary: Bitcoin Audible

Host: Guy Swann
Episode: 2Sats - A Bit About Time & Regret
Date: November 13, 2025

Overview

In this reflective solo episode, Guy Swann explores the relationship between time, regret, and our ability (or inability) to achieve significant things. Drawing on personal anecdotes and observations about everyday distractions, Guy makes a compelling case for the necessity of making explicit trades with one's time in order to accomplish goals—whether that's building a successful podcast, writing a book, or simply creating a life with fewer regrets. The episode blends humor, practical advice, and philosophical insight, all delivered in Guy’s approachable, direct style.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Illusion of “Having Time” and the Reality of Choices

• Everyone dreams of achievements but often wishes they had already done the work, rather than approaching the effort itself.
• Quote:
  • “I don't really want to learn a language that's slow and frustrating and annoying, but I would love to have learned another language in the past so that I can speak it.” (00:26)
• Our time is always filled—“We're doing something for every single minute of the day... there's literally no additional time in the day because we are always spending it doing something, even if we're just sitting around.” (01:00)
• Significant, valuable achievements inherently require substantial time and energy; shortcuts don’t yield results worth having.
  • “If it's quick and easy to do, then by definition, it's cheap.” (01:30)

The Power of Explicit Time Trade-Offs

• Guy illustrates that you can only achieve something great by intentionally substituting one activity for another.
  • Example: Swapping time spent playing League of Legends for building his podcast.
  • “I deliberately made the choice to uninstall the game League of Legends and trade that time that I played the game for working on the podcast instead.” (02:03)
• Emphasizes the emotional difficulty at first—mourning the loss of fun or easy dopamine—but notes that over time, this is replaced by pride and satisfaction.
  • “At the beginning, it felt like such a huge cost… but looking back now, I don't regret it at all. And I don't really miss it all that much either.” (03:13)

The Alternative: Accumulation of Regret

• Guy reflects on the likely regret had he not made the switch, imagining years later with nothing but gaming memories instead of a meaningful project.
  • “I can imagine how much I would regret if after eight years I was looking back and I was still working at pretty much the same job and all I had was the memory of a bunch of good ganks, maybe some custom skins for my imaginary game character, and I was still just thinking about how cool it would be if I had my own show.” (03:42)

Battling Everyday Distractions

• A candid, relatable admission:
  • “In fact, I just wasted 40 minutes on Twitter and Nostr before realizing that if I actually want to have more of these videos, I had to get off of that place and come over here and actually do the video.” (04:17)

Building Better Habits by Deliberate Substitution

• Guy describes a new project—writing a book—and the challenge of finding time.
  • “About a month ago, I made another explicit trade. I will never poop again with my phone. Instead, I take my daylight computer that has none of those distractions... I just got my writing app and I sit down and I write. And I poop a lot. All the time, actually. That's a lot of time to get writing done.” (04:47)
• Public accountability is used as an extra incentive:
  • “I'm specifically saying it publicly in this video against the advice of my wife who doesn't want me to mention that I wrote it while pooping so that I will either finish it or I'll be embarrassed publicly for not having done what I set out to do.” (05:30)

The Immense Cost of Passive Digital Consumption

• Guy highlights American screen time statistics:
  • “Most Americans spend over four, four and a half hours scrolling on their phone every day. And in fact, for the younger generations, it's even worse. It's almost six hours.” (05:51)
  • That equates to “like 130 days out of the year.” (06:03)

A Practical, Philosophical Conclusion

• It’s not about demonizing leisure or social media, but about awareness and intentionality.
  • “It's not really that there's something super wrong with those things. It's just a question that you have to ask is what will I regret more having not done.” (06:20)
• The core message:
  • “The difficult decisions aren't the ones to do something great. It's about deciding what not to do so that you can do something great. It's not easy, but it is simple. Otherwise, what are you going to wish you had done in the past when there's no time left to do it? Think about it. But that's just my two sats.” (06:32)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On change and trade-offs:
  • “You have to explicitly and consciously trade something you are already doing for the work of doing the thing that you want to have.” (01:45)
• On personal evolution:
  • “Recording a podcast does not have nearly the instantaneous dopamine hits that coming up from bot lane through the brush to gank mid and landing a perfect dark binding to get first blood does. But… now I get to trade my time going to work to work on the show, because this is what I do now, and I love it.” (02:30)
• On using time productively:
  • “Before the year is out, I'm probably gonna have a book… I'll either finish it or I'll be embarrassed publicly for not having done what I set out to do.” (05:20)
• Final call to action:
  • “What are you going to wish you had done in the past when there’s no time left to do it?” (06:40)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Opening reflection about time, dreams, and regret – (00:04–01:30)
• Key story: Swapping gaming for podcasting – (02:00–03:13)
• Regret vs. fulfillment: what if he hadn’t made the change? – (03:42–04:17)
• Distraction confession: social media waste – (04:17–04:47)
• Habit intervention: writing a book while “multitasking” – (04:47–05:30)
• Discussion of national phone usage statistics – (05:51–06:03)
• Closing thoughts and takeaway – (06:20–06:40)

Tone & Style

Guy Swann’s tone is conversational, witty, and sometimes self-deprecating, making even philosophical observations on regret and time management feel relatable and actionable. The episode is candid, “meta,” and motivational, encouraging listeners to reflect on their own choices and take ownership of their time.