Just how much is your time worth?
I have the day free, not just an hour or two but a whole day - a good 12 hours to myself.
I have so many things that need to get done. I compile a list and look at it. There are a whole load of ‘‘should do’s’’ on my list.
As a mum, they are things that ‘‘need to get done’’, but really just how important are they?
What if I did take the day off? And what would I do with my day?
‘‘Time is money’’. We all know that saying, especially when it comes to business.
But what about our personal time? How much is that worth and how are we squandering it on endless nonessentials?
Most of us constantly tell ourselves how busy we are and how little time we have to fit things in - like decent nutrition, exercise, family time, me time, the list is endless.
Looking at my list I now add the time it would take to get each of these jobs done, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour, it all adds up and I’m not so sure this ‘free time’ I thought I would have will actually fit in.
To emphasise this point I gave one second the value of $1. That means each day holds a value of $86,400 of which I have 12 hours available until my family gets home.
That’s $3,600 an hour. Wow, the ironing it going to cost me $1,300!
I see my original to-do list a little more differently now. I’m not so sure I want to spend almost $2000 cleaning the bathroom. Time isn’t free. It’s a limited resource to each and everyone of us. It has immense value. Yet we procrastinate, delay, do mindless things to keep busy, potter about. How easily do we give an hour away? Who to and to what? Do we take a moment to consider how would we rather spend it?
We have a fixed amount of time under our control. We have no more and no less of it than 24 hours in a day or 86,400 seconds.
Suppose we allowed ourselves the time to do more enjoyable pursuits, pleasing exploits, things we actually want to do. Imagine indulging in life rather than rushing like maniacs all day long to get ‘stuff’ done.
I grab my pen and cross off the less important things from my list and identify those jobs I can delegate. I’m left with a few small things that I can get done and about 10 hours left for me to do something I want to do.
Now, the big question is...what do I want to do with my time?
Interestingly, at this point I realise I haven’t had the occasion to entertain that idea in a very long time. Hmmm?