Have you ever considered the monetary value of your time? If not, I have a simple calculation, along with 3 questions, that will hopefully motivate you to stop wasting time and boost your productivity!
I recently led a time-management workshop where we spent a good chunk of the time discussing the value of time… specifically, how to determine the value of our time.
I asked the ladies these questions:
1. What is the value of your time?
2. Is your time more or less valuable than your money?
3. What would you be willing to give up to get more time?
I challenge you to ask yourself the same questions:
1. What is the value of your time?
In general, we are more careful and protective of things that have a higher value. For example, we’d be much more careful with a crystal wine glass than with a plastic Dixie cup.
Similarly, if we place a high value on our time, we will naturally be more inclined to use it more wisely — in ways that benefit us, our families, our friends, our employers, our communities, etc.
But how can we put a value on our time?
If you don’t work outside the home, set the bar high and value your time at $100 per hour. If you do work outside the home, figure out your hourly wage and use that as your guide.
Now, consider that hourly rate the next time you contemplate “wasting” time scrolling social media, watching YouTube, or hitting the snooze button again.
Pretty eye-opening, huh!?!
And the next time you joke about “wasting time”, stop and consider the idea of throwing a $100 bill in the trash for every hour you “waste”. That might change your mindset a bit!
2. Is your time more or less valuable than your money?
We’ve all heard the saying, “time is money”, and to a certain degree, that saying is true, as they are both important resources. However, there are many situations when time is arguably more valuable than money.
The women at my workshop agreed and made a long list of situations where their time would be more valuable than money.
Here are ten of my favorites from their list:
- Time with a sick, elderly, or dying loved one.
- Time with children before bed.
- Time with, and only with, your spouse or significant other.
- Time with family and friends during holidays and special events.
- Time on weekends to unplug and recharge.
- Time doing something you are passionate about — just because you can.
- Time spent volunteering for a cause or organization you support — not because you were guilted into saying “yes”.
- Time with each individual child, grandchild, etc., where you can really tune into their needs.
- Time spent taking the back roads and enjoying the scenery.
- Time spent in prayer or personal devotion — even when you have 37 other things to do.
I suppose it’s difficult to have a definitive answer as to whether time or money is more important, because we need both. But as you think about the value of your time in relation to the value of money, consider that time is often more “finite” than money.
For example:
If we spend money and regret it, we can often return the purchased item and get our money back. But if we spend time in frivolous or wasteful ways, there is no way of getting that time back.
Similarly, if we want/need more money, we can find a side job or sell something to make a little extra cash. However, if we want or need more time, we can’t magically add more hours to the end of our day.
3. What would you give up to have more time?
This is one of my favorite questions to think about… because, while it’s not possible to create more hours in a day, it IS possible to better utilize your hours so you can fit more into your day.
And if I can do more of what I need to do in less time, I end up with more hours to do what I want to do… and hopefully less regret over “wasted time”.
I suppose this is why I put so much value on good time management.
If you’re contemplating what you could give up to allow more time for other things, let me share few ideas from my workshop ladies:
- Scrolling social media and the internet (this was the top one)
- TV (Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, etc.)
- Games (specifically games on their phones)
- Shopping (in stores and online)
- Sleeping in (get your rest, but don’t overdo it)
- Reading (I love reading, but it’s an “extra” for me, usually before bed)
- “Should-dos” that don’t need to be done (dusting the lamp shades or cooking 100% from scratch)
- Things to keep up our appearance (attending events we aren’t interested just because we’re expected to be there, or volunteering for things we don’t want to do to look good)
What about you? What would you give up to make more time for other, more important things?
The goal is not to obsess over allocating every minute of every day to something useful, productive, meaningful, etc.
However, it can be helpful to periodically think through these questions, remind yourself of the monetary value of your time (choose an exact dollar amount), and eliminate those time-wasters that continue creeping back in.
What is the value of your time?
Have you ever set a monetary value for your time?
What would you do if you had more time?
What are some ideas you have to create more available time?
Rachel says
Thank you for this post! I am keenly interested in time management as well, although I do work outside the home too. I completely agree that $100 an hour is a decent way to value your time when you don’t work outside the home – I always disliked the notion that things are “free” if a woman isn’t working. Women’s time has a huge value whether working or not.
However… I’m not sure that hourly working wage is a good way to value one’s time if they work outside the home. I would probably say it’s better to value your time at $100 an hour plus whatever your working hourly rate is… minus the cost of the pieces you outsource (ie childcare, laundry service, cleaning…). OR maybe $100 plus your hourly rate minus half the outsourced work… since I imagine a partner could also pick up pieces as well?
I know you were trying to keep it simple and I 100% want to value non working outside the home time as well as working outside the home time. All time is valuable! 🙂
thanks again for your thoughts Andrea I really appreciate your blog.
Andrea says
haha — I was chuckling as I read through your comment and various calculations thinking “I was just trying to keep things as simple as possible” — and then you mentioned “I know you were trying to keep it simple” — yup!
I totally agree with your more detailed approach, but for the purpose of this post, my main intent was to keep it as simple as possible while getting readers to think more critically about how they spend their time. 🙂
Rachel says
I totally get it! As a person who won’t make $100 a hour probably ever from my job I still value my working wage/time and the rest of my time… certainly more than the hourly rate I get paid at work, and far more than what I wouldn’t get paid if I wasn’t at work.
I remember after the twins were born I played the reverse game – if someone said to me “hey I’ll give you £15 to clean my house for an hour” I would say “no thank you I would much rather not have that £15″… which is why we hired a cleaning service.
Betsy (Eco-novice) says
This list really shows that relationships are what make life worthwhile.
Rachel says
Not too long ago I would have said I value money more than time. Now, I am beginning to really focus on valuing my time and using it wisely because it is so precious! I believe becoming a mother has caused me to realize how precious time really is!
Tiffany @ No Ordinary Homestead says
I always try to take time for my daughter no matter what. And love taking the back roads, especially since my truck doesn’t go fast. Highway driving is just awful. I’m in the process of decluttering our home so I have more time for the important things in life! It’s an arduous task but I know it’s going to be worth it.