We all have 168 hours per week. That isn’t going to change but you can change what you do with it. So, how much is YOUR time worth?
Seriously, what is one hour actually worth to you? How much would you pay to get a few hours back?
There is more than one way to calculate the answer to this question. Let’s start with the obvious one first…
How much money can you make in one hour?
If you are an employee, this is easy to calculate. Choose a period of time, such as the last week or last year. Work out the total amount of money you earned in that period and how many hours you worked. Now divide the money by the hours and that gives you the amount you earn per hour.
For example, if you earned £3,000 last month and your worked 160 hours, then £3,000 / 160 = £18.75 per hour.
If you are self-employed or run your own business then the calculation is a little different.
To get the value of one hour you need to think about how much money you make when you focus on high yielding activities.
For example, if you hit the phones and make sales for an hour, how much money do you earn in that time?
Once you’ve answered that question, ask yourself this one…
How much money are you wasting by NOT paying people to do things for you?
Think about it.
Are you spending too much time on things you should be paying someone else to do?
How long do you spend on basic tasks instead of things that need your expertise?
If you stopped doing the basic tasks, how much money could you make if you hit the phones for the same amount of time?
If you can make more money than you would spend, maybe it’s time to use your time differently!
The second way to value your time.
This is one is a lot more subjective. There is no simple calculation to work it out.
It is about the amount of time you spend doing things you love vs doing things you would prefer not to do.
In other words, it is about quality of life.
You can’t change the quantity of hours in each week. But you can decide how many of those 168 hours you intend to enjoy.
Do you spend too much time staring at screens and not enough time with your loved ones? Do you feel like you miss out on things that matter to you because you are bogged down with stuff you hate doing?
Regrets… (I’ve had a few)
Palliative care nurse, Bronnie Ware, documented the most common regrets from her patients. In her book “Top 5 Regrets of the Dying” she reveals that her patients were not focused on money, fame or success.
Instead, the dying wish they had spent more time doing things they love, with people they love.
The most common regret of all was “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
This was followed by “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
How much is an extra hour with spent with loved ones, or doing something you love, worth to you?
Are there tasks you could pay someone else to do so that you get that time?
How ever you decide to value your time, do this…
Grab a pen and make a list of activities you’re doing that your should be delegating or outsourcing.
Make sure you know how much your time is worth and that you are using it wisely!
