What’s Your Time Worth?

We’ve all heard the saying, “time is money” and to a certain degree, that is true. However, today I want to challenge you by saying that time is MORE IMPORTANT than money.

Why?

Because you can always do something to make more money but you can never get time back. NEVER.

See where I’m going with this?

But what about your time?

Once you fritter away your time on unimportant things, you can never get that time back.

An email made its way around about a year ago about a man who gave his son two jars, one empty and one with marbles. There were enough marbles for the weeks he had left to live (assuming a man’s average mortality). He told his son to move one marble to the empty jar every Saturday so that he’d realize that he could never, ever get that time back.

Yes, the story is a bit hokey but it DOES have a point 😉

I’m a practical sort of person so I like to do an exercise with my clients that I’d like you to do with me too.

Divide your monthly salary by 21.67 (the number of days you work each month). If you’re self-employed, use your average earnings by the number of days you usually work.

That’s your daily rate.

Now take that number and divide it by 7.5 or the number of hours you work every day.

That’s your hourly rate.

Now, when you spend an hour surfing the internet, replying to chain letters, reading blogs when you should be working, VISUALIZE yourself throwing that money in the bin.

If you’re like me, it’ll shock you and make you realize the value of your time.

This week I’m challenging you to calculate your hourly rate and next time you’re tempted to procrastinate or just mess around, STOP and ask yourself if it’s really worth it.

My guess is no.

Marcia Francois is a time management coach and speaker who inspires busy women to break out of overwhelm, make the most of their time and take purposeful and focused action so they have the time and freedom to live life to the full. Visit http://purposefultimemanagement.com for your free Time Management Purpose Pack.