We will willingly live farther in the middle of nowhere, with an hour commute just to have a bigger home.
We easily give up that 2 hours a day, stuck in traffic / driving like a maniac just so we have the dream place we want.
Why not turn it on its head and consider the time we are wasting in commuting, as being valuable?
10 hours a week is 40 hours a month. That’s a full-time job for a week, that you’re spending in a car, inhaling fumes.
Our time seems to be so undervalued that we will also drive 15 miles to get to a cheaper gas station to fill up, but we won’t spend that same amount of time trying to increase our own salary by practicing negotiation tricks.
We will save a “ton” on groceries which is great, but have wasted hours and gas by going to various stores, but we can’t spend the time comparing stocks and funds and figuring out what makes sense to meet our goals.
We will even try and fill those blank hours when we are not making money or side hustling by trying to find more ways to make money and to “make every hour count”.
I’m growing increasingly jaded about this entire Hustle Economy we have built around ourselves and the pressure to do and make money every second. If you aren’t making money, it’s like you’re a loser.
Stopping to smell or appreciate the flowers? No time for that, pay someone else to do it for you. 😛
I hear quotes like:
If you see me less it is because I’m doing more.
I’ll challenge that — are you really doing more?
By whose standards?
By giving up your social connections? By not “wasting” an hour talking to your friends or family?
By skipping out on family or other events to save money AND to make more money?
What for?
It is so easy to waste time because we value it so little. We think money is more important but it is truly easy to make money. That gets refilled. Time, doesn’t.
Consider your time as more valuable than money
It is okay to say — I’m taking this job closer to my home for LESS pay, living in a smaller apartment that costs more than if I lived farther away, but being able to live happily and comfortably without wasting my time or my money.
As a consultant I really feel this – traveling and commuting is one of the biggest reasons why I quit as an employee. I just couldn’t handle the constant travel and everything surrounding it.
It isn’t and wasn’t glamorous no matter what anyone tells you. Having to be at an airport 2 hours before your 6 a.m. flight is hell.
Having to fly the red eye on Thursday night so you can be home on Friday is tiring.
Your weekends are shot, and on Sunday night you’re back on the plane again or dreading that 4 a.m. start at the airport.
I felt every one of those hours and it is why I’m perfectly OK saying no to contracts that are too far from where I live and would be a 45-minute commute, or saying no to anything that requires out of city travel.
It’s also okay to pay someone else to do things for you, so it frees up your weekend and you don’t need to clean or even cook – that’s why eating out is such a big thing with me. I get to try various cuisines on a whim, any time I want, just with money.
There is more to life than money. It’s time.
