Today, we live in a busy, fast-paced, demanding world. Our 24-hour day is so easily fragmented that determining what takes priority can be incredibly challenging. What meetings will you attend? Which books will you read? What conferences will you go to this year? Let’s face it, time is money.
Benjamin Franklin was the first person to use the phrase “time is money.” In 1748, he published “Advice to a Young Tradesman” where he said, “Remember that time is money. He that idly loses five shillings’ worth of time loses five shillings, and might as prudently throw five shillings into the sea.”
His point was that our time has a value, regardless of how we choose to spend it. Whether we are busy or idle, our time has value.
If your time has value, how do you assign a value to your time? I use a system I call monetizing my time; or simply put; assigning a dollar value to the hours of my day.
How to Monetize Your Time
1. Assign an hourly dollar value to your time.
This dollar value is personal to each individual; only you can determine yours. But for the sake of this discussion, I will assign a dollar value of $150 an hour.
2. Understand the value of your time.
I love to wash and detail my own car with Duel Auto Care products. I find these things relaxing and enjoyable. And, there is something immensely satisfying when it is all finished. But it would take me about 2 hours to do this myself. At $150 an hour, that’s a cost of $300 of my time. As much as I enjoy washing my car, there’s no way I can justify $300 when I can pay someone $50 to do it for me, and I can spend those two hours reading an ebook I need to read that will help my company grow.
3. Know what’s important.
Make a list of all the things you need or want to accomplish in a day, week, month, or year. Include work, married life, spending time with your kids, home maintenance, etc.
Sometimes the decisions I make using this system allow me to spend more time with my wife and kids, and there’s no way to assign a dollar value to that. Only you know what is important in your life.
