Time is finite and ever moving. When a moments past, it’s gone forever, and our lives are only made out of so many moments.
Whether you are a freelance writer trying to meet your deadlines, or a CEO, working to finalize a lucrative merger, having more time would sure be useful.
But if time is finite, then its impossible to get more of it? Right?
Sure, the health sector is working wonders to extend our time here on Earth, through breakthroughs in curing and treating diseases, and in aged care and anti-aging. But that’s not what I’m here to discuss.
Time may be finite, but wealth is not. Nationally and globally, the economy is an ever changing beast, shrinking and growing, creating and destroying wealth in its wake. More wealth can be created with a great idea, and wealth can be redistributed by taking it from somewhere else.
This seemingly infinite resource, can be used to your advantage to buy more time. Yes, you read that right. But not time of your own, you’re simply freeing yours up, by taking other peoples time to free up your own.
Whether you have wealth in abundance, or are just getting started, there are many things you can do to buy more time for yourself. Lets go through them:
Transportation
Working people, on average, spend more waking hours hours at the Office then they do at home. By the same token, most of our travel time is spent going to and from our workplace, taking even more time out of the day.
Therefore, it stands to reason that our first focus should be on minimizing work related time as much as possible. Guess what? You can do this with money.
Location
Picture two brokers working on Wall Street. One has been incredibly successful in their career and has become quite well off. The other is in a rut and cannot seem to break the barrier between middle and upper class living. The former has used their fortune to buy an apartment right in the heart of lower Manhattan, while the other is barely scraping enough money together to flat share out in Brooklyn. Take a guess on who will get to work first…
The wealthy stock broker will be able to enjoy a nice short stroll to the office, getting into work early to get a head start on the day, or waking up more refreshed by being able to sleep in and still get to work on time. While our poor stock broker is going to have to have a much longer trip to work, on a packed subway, stressed from the commute to work.
This is an extreme, yet common example, of how money can buy you extra time by giving you the ability to buy the best real estate locations. But you don’t have to be an extremely wealthy stock broker to get a place closer to your work.
Most people live out in the suburbs and take the trade off a much longer commute, so that they can buy the biggest house they can possibly afford. But are those extra square meters really worth the extra hour or more drive per day?
For the same amount, or even less money, you could buy an apartment in the heart of the city, or a smaller house in the suburbs closer to the city. Sure, if all you’re doing in life is working and then wasting your afternoons, that time might not mean much. But, if you have a mission to accomplish, this time is valuable. It can be spent developing your career or building your own business.
And remember, if you take the smaller but closer house or apartment in the short term, if you use the extra time wisely, in the long term you’ll be able to buy whatever house you want.
Mode of Transport
Let’s use the example of the stock brokers again, but this time let’s say that the Wealthy stock broker decided to spend his money on a massive mansion in the Outskirts of the city. Now their commute time is just as far, if not maybe even further.
Guess what? That wealthy stock broker is still going to save more time on their transport to work every day.
What?! How??
Well, commute time doesn’t really matter when you can still be productive. And that’s pretty easy to do when you employ a chauffeur.
The poor stock broker, stuck on the crowded subway on his long route to work, will find it difficult or maybe impossible to get some work done. But, the wealthy stock broker will have no trouble in the comfort of the backseat of their sedan, maybe even a Rolls Royce…
But what about you?
Sure, you might not have same living standards as the stock broker yet, but there is still an important lesson to learn from this.
How you choose to get to work determines how productive you’ll be. If the subway you get on is crowded, catch an earlier one so you have some space, and better still, a seat, to get some work done on your transit. Or, if you’re being an idiot and driving during peak hour, leave the car at home and catch those less crowded buses and trains instead.
Sure, you may hate waking up a bit earlier or catching public transport at first, but if you live far away from work and are not at wealthy stock broker wage just yet, you’ll have to accept the inconveniences that come with getting there.
Take them now, and use the extra time wisely, so that in the future you’ll be able to trade that discomfort for the comforts that come with extra wealth later. Maybe even that Rolls Royce our wealthy stock broker is in…
Employed Assistance
We can all relate to a time when we had so much on our plate that we wished we had help. Maybe a maid for the monotonous house hold chores, or even a personal assistant for the monotonous work tasks.
This would not only alleviate some stress, but also afford us additional time to work on other matters.
Unfortunately, on our measly paychecks, we may not be able to afford that. Instead, we are stuck juggling all our responsibilities alone, probably sacrificing work quality in the process.
If only we had more money. With money, you can buy all the help you need.
Imagine waking up to a home where your breakfast has already been prepared for you and your clothes are already pressed and waiting for you. How much faster would it be to start the day? How much extra time would you have to handle the responsibilities that only you can handle?
This is the beauty of employed assistance.
Cooking
Even commonly overlooked activities like meal preparation can be made easier with more money.
Cooking, for most people, is a makeshift adventure. Conjuring up a sumptuous delicacy from rudimentary ingredients tends to come with a sense of satisfaction.
However, the time spent in the kitchen by these wannabe chefs is considerable. For a busy individual, carving out two to three hours a day for meal preparation is a misappropriation of time, one that they don’t even realize.
Despite this, most people do not really have a choice. If you do not cook, who will?
For the wealthy, they have the luxury of employing personal chefs to prepare their meals. But what about the middle class folk? Well, there are options for them too.
With the consistent growth of ready made meal delivery services, you can call upon organizations like LiteNEasy to deliver healthy food to your doorstep; all you have to do is eat it.
And if you use the time you gain to do extra work or for career development, you may end up financially infront as a result of it.
Business Optimization
Let’s not kid ourselves, starting up and running a business can be a challenging task.
It will drain most, if not all of your mental energy, and most, if not all, of your time as well.
However, if you are willing to loosen your purse strings a little, and have the money to do so, some of that burden can be removed.
In the sales industry, the amount of product you move is directly proportional to your profits. However, selling products people don’t want or don’t know they want is a tedious, time consuming task.
Before you can convince a stone-faced, middle class housewife to purchase your innovative potato peeler, you have to spend thirty minutes or more pitching its merits.
This is time you won’t have as the CEO of a new sales company.
Therefore, if the money is available, why not hire a salesperson or two to do that work for you. On a commissions based contract, the risk is limited, but the potential benefits can be huge.
With extra legs on the ground, consisting of the right talent, time to profitability can be dramatically reduced, and so will your stress.
Do the smart thing
Prioritizing time over money could just be the smartest move you make.
Many people might consider you lazy for deciding to pay for services you could otherwise do yourself, but in the long run, they will be sweating through life as you coast through it comfortably.
Time is precious. Maximize your own and others for your benefit. The clock is ticking.
