Yesterday I talked about time-value and how most Americans are very ignorant on the subject. Most people, when given clear economic/time choices, they value their own time very low, less than $10 per hour.
I, on the other hand, value my time extremely high…probably around $50 to $100 per hour. Let me give some examples:
- I don’t like doing laundry, I pay someone about $20 per hour to do that.
- I don’t like cleaning my house, I pay someone about $20 per hour to do that.
- I don’t like buying groceries or putting them away, again…$20 per hour.
- I don’t like watering my lawn, $20 per hour
- I don’t like cutting my lawn, $30 per hour
- I don’t like stamping and sealing envelopes, I use online bill-pay for $5 a month
- I never leave work between 4:45pm – 5:30pm. Rush-hour traffic is a waste of my time/money
- When moving, I will definitely hire both a packer and a mover. Under $100/hr? Definitely.
- I hate it when friends ask me to help them move. Would I be a jerk if I just hired 1 mover to take my place?
- I don’t like cleaning my boat, $90/hour
- I had to think hard about this one…as it approached my time-value threshold. But since its only done once a year I went for it.
- I don’t like sealing my deck or fence, $35/hour
- I don’t like cleaning out my gutters or installing those gutter guards, $25 / hour
- I don’t like cleaning out my truck or washing/waxing it, $10 / hour
Ok so I’m a rich lazy bastard right?
Wrong.
It’s about outsourcing and valuing your time. Now obviously in order to do the things I’ve listed above, I have to have a decent income stream. And the way I am able to do that is by having so much time and energy when I need it.
For each task listed above, I am essentially buying that time and energy so I can use it in other ways.
A lot of my time and energy goes into reading, exploring the web and thinking about the next big development for mytrade. I can do it in the morning, afternoon, at night–anytime I want. I am able to do this because I don’t have a ton of other crap occupying my time.
This makes me better at building mytrade, allows me to make more money and continue to outsource more crap.
So my challenge to you is simple:
- Figure your current hourly pay rate
- Hint: Divide how many thousands you make per year by 2. That’s your hourly rate.
- So if you make $50k a year, you’re making about $25 an hour.
- This applies to all salaries, assuming you work 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year.
- Figure how much you value your time. Now that you know your pay rate, you should be able to figure out how much you value your time. Would you work overtime for 10% more? 20% more? Would you still work 40 hours a week if you made 20% less? Think about how much your time really is worth to you. This varies per person.
- List the things you do that could be outsourced for less than that hourly rate
- Only list things you don’t really enjoy doing. (Don’t outsource your hobbies!)
- Only list things whose benefit would be equal if someone else did it
- So child-raising and exercise (zomg I wish this could be outsourced) don’t count
- Look hard at that list. Strongly consider hiring someone to do a few of the things on that list.
- Think: Are there ways that this saved time could help you make even more money per hour? (thereby increasing the list of things you could outsource)
Do this, and trust me, your life will change for the better. More time, more freedom, more energy. What good is money if you don’t use it?
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Kevin Bittner
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kevinfrey
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andyswan
