What is your time worth?

A number of years ago I found myself feeling time poor. Rather than dwelling on the fact that time is a human invented construct used to measure the distance between 2 things that don't actually exist I decided to do something about it.

As with any problem I set about trying to work out what I was facing and where the root cause was coming from. My average week was spent helping friends, working unpaid overtime or generally saying yes to anything that came my way (usually something horribly boring). By the time anything I actually wanted to do came up I was generally too wiped out or so financially incontinent that I couldn't be bothered.

Here is how I introduced the word "No" into my life without losing my work ethic or becoming a soulless hose-beast with no friends . I started by trying to work out what my time was actually worth. The way I saw it by putting a dollar figure on my time I would have a tangible value that I could relate to and something I could compare anything in my life to. Other people I have shown this model to have used different currency such as cake or the love of their children but as I'm rather materialistic, not a father and I'm gluten intolerant, cold hard cash just felt like the logical choice.

Start with your daily wage, divide by the hours not spent working or sleeping (usually about 6) then multiply by the amount of time you will have to give up. Now ask yourself; Is it worth this much to me in expected reciprocation, happiness or guilt? The first time you try this you may feel you have seriously over valued your time. Trust me, you haven't. The average Australian wage is about $150 a day after tax. That means the average Australian's hourly "Time Value" is about $25/hr. So that would mean helping someone move house for a few hours is easily worth a carton of beer, a good laugh or a few days worth or nagging. Likewise going to see a terrible movie by yourself is likely to incur a significant time debt so why not call a friend or do something else?

TV = $/:)

As your career moves along and your free time decreases your Time Value will start getting a little ridiculous. When that happens it's important to remember that it doesn't matter that your number is different to someone else's as long as they are valuable to you.

J

P.S. Someone pointed out to me yesterday that we are given 86,400 seconds each day to do with as we please. How are you spending yours?