What's Your Time Worth?
One of my favorite posts on the Internet is by a Fastlane Forum member named Billy Murphy.
You might have read it: it’s at ForeverJobless.com.
The post is titled “EV: Millionaire’s Math”, and it describes a mathematically driven decision making process for choosing to do or not to do.
It’s not just awe inspiring, it’s action-inspiring. Which, ultimately, is what I want to do for people.
EV+ thinking doesn’t just end with big business opportunities.
It also applies to the little things in life that have potentially greater consequences (positive or negative).
I decided to increase my data plan. It cost me an extra $5/month and to me, it was a no-brainer.
Why?
Because the data plan allowed me to do more billable work and Internet research during my commute to work.
It also allows me to stream music and audiobooks, expanding my learning when I can’t sit down and read.
It gives me the option to take calls internationally when I’m on the go.
It takes me less than 5 minutes per month to recoup this cost. Sometimes, it takes zero minutes per month.
This choice was a no brainer because for an extra $5/month, I get back essentially 1 hour and 10 minutes every weekday of my life. (Remember my previous post? It would not be possible without that data plan.)
That got me thinking: what if there are things you can pay for in order to get back time which can be spent either:
Earning an income (hours for dollars)
Working on a business system (hours for $0, but reaped timelessly in the future)
Doing literally anything you want to do
Turns out, there are.
Take a look at your day and all the crap you have to do. The biggest time sucks are sleeping (largely unavoidable), cooking, cleaning, travelling, and waiting.
Let’s leave sleeping alone for now (there’s a lot can be said on that topic alone). But what if you didn’t have to:
Cook
Wait in line for food
Think about what you wanted to eat
Worry if the food you were eating was good or bad for you
This applies less to me because I really like to cook. I find it relaxing, and it’s a time when I can express my creativity and do repetitive, meditative tasks all at the same time.
But most people don’t. They hate it. They’d rather fucking not.
Most people’s solution to this is to eat out. But this is a poor solution for those who care about their time. Eating out requires waiting on the waiter, waiting for your food, waiting for the check, and travel to and from the restaurant. Sure, it’s a wonderful social activity, but it’s a big time suck!
Then there’s take out. Take-out requires ordering, travelling, waiting. But at least you don’t have to cook, wait for the waiter, wait for the check, etc.
Then there’s delivery. No waiting in line or travelling, so a LOT of time is saved! This is a favorite of high earning office workers who spend countless hours getting necessary tasks done.
But you’re still slave to your whims there. You still have to think about what you wanted to eat. That takes time and mental energy.
What if you knew exactly what you were eating for each meal and for each day?
How would your life be different then?
This is why meal delivery services exist. For less than the cost of getting delivery (really) you can have specific meals sent to you at certain intervals. Every 3 days, for example. These meals are catered to your caloric and dietary needs, so you don’t have to worry about whether or not the food you’re eating is good for you.
It’s a good solution to an age-old problem. Of course, with those meal delivery services, you’re not eating your food fresh: you have to reheat it when you actually eat it. This is the same situation as when you cook your food and bring it with you to the office.
Therefore, if you care ONLY about the amount of time you spend on making food, deciding on what to eat, and getting your food… you should buy a meal delivery service and reheat the food in the office. You’ll save a ton of time.
These ideas are applicable to someone who has a deep desire to eliminate as much menial, unnecessary tasks in their life in order to get more work done and, ultimately, increase their overall return on their time. Everyone has 24 hours a day, no more and no less. But the people who achieve the most use their time the most efficiently.
How do you make the best use of your time?