Maximize Your Time!
Part 4
How to value time effectively
By Wendy Collier, B. Ed.
Summary: Get a new perspective on how you value time. Because it is non-renewable you will never get it back! That adds tremendous value so learn ways to get back your time.
The 24 hours we do have is the most precious of all resources. It is a resource most people don’t realize has tremendous value. We have not been taught how to value it and get the most out of it.
Depending on what your job is, your time at work has a certain dollar amount. I want you to start thinking of your time after work as having the same dollar value.
If you are making $30 an hour, then your time away from work is also worth $30 an hour. Doesn’t it make sense to hire people you can pay $10 an hour to create more time for you to do what you want to do?
Hiring other people to do things is not easy because we’ve been trained to do it all ourselves. It is interesting how we feel embarrassed to tell our parents that we pay someone to come in and clean our house or have our lawns mowed or our windows professionally cleaned. That’s because we grew up with parents who did it “all”. We also have a very strong need to have our parents’ approval. So, if we think they won’t approve of spending money on cleaning services, then we will hesitate to do it.
This is one of what I call “obsolete rules” that we still live by based on old ways of thinking which are not realistic in our present roles. Pay attention to see if your inner voice says you must be lazy or inadequate in some way because you can’t “do it all.”
Think about it from a logical point of view. If your time is worth $30 an hour then you hire someone at $10 an hour, it has cost you only $10 but you’ve gained a full hour of your time which I personally feel is “priceless”. Isn’t it worth $10 for you to have an extra hour with your family and friends? I know from experience it is!
Sometimes we need someone to give us permission to do things. I give you permission to hire someone else to:
- Clean your house
- Mow your lawn
- Clean the windows
- Paint the fence
- Paint the house inside
Delegate, delegate, delegate!