Yea we only get so many trips around the sun and it sometimes feels like modern society tries to push you to win or go home. I have one child in college and one who just started high school (today) and I can tell you the pressure they are experiencing to "succeed" is immense. I have no clue how I would have handled that when I was in school. Probably not well.
Not to be flippant, but it's a zero-sum game because time is finite.
I think you know this too since the following paragraphs describe you making this tradeoff yourself.