“that’ll work perfect. OK. So if you want to start stacking at one end, and I’ll start at the other, and we’ll meet in the middle”. Hmm. I stared at him for a few moments blank eyed, and he obviously must have noticed it. Perhaps he could read my mind at that moment and knew what I was thinking. “You want me to help stack the firewood?” That was the question in my mind, but didn’t want to say it out loud for how lazy it made me sound. So to avoid the awkward silence, he quickly added, “.. or if you want me to stack it for you, it’s an extra $15.” What was interesting is during that moment in time, I was thinking to myself, “what would I have to pay this guy to do the stacking instead of me?” After all, I had a long day, and I can’t honestly say that manual labor in the cold winter weather is high on my priority list. Before he had said “$15” to me, I had thought to myself, “OK, if he will do it for anything less than $50, I’m in”. So, Patrick stacked the wood, and I happily sat inside finishing the snack I had made, waiting for Raylene to come home. He finished, and I gladly paid him for the wood, the extra $15, and a tip on top of that. It only took him about 20 or 30 minutes and he was done. Best money I ever spent! A few years ago, I probably would have negotiated with him on that $15, or thought about actually DOING the work myself to save the $15. Now, I realize what my time is worth, and it is FAR better to pay someone who’s willing and able to do the work that I need done, if they’re willing to do it far less than what I consider my time worth. Sometimes, Raylene gives me a hard time because I’d rather hire someone to mow my lawn than do it myself. Ditto for shovelling the snow, cleaning the yard in the spring, or cleaning the house. Now, if I actually enjoyed moving the lawn, then I would do it, because it would be enjoyment time. But I don’t. I hate it. I hate yardwork, and that’s why I don’t do it. In my mind, I already work hard for the lifestyle that we share, and my perception is, I’d rather pay someone who will happily do the work for me, than do it myself. That means I am supporting another small business owner by being their customer, and I also free up more of my time to enjoy as I please. So my question is, what’s your time worth? Will you spend 45 minutes driving around to save $2 on a container of milk? Will you do a chore you HATE doing because it would cost you $20 to have someone else do it? Do you wash your own car at home? By the time you screw around with getting the hose out, all the attachments, the soap, washing the car, wiping it down, and then putting all the crap away, how much time does it take? When I used to do it it was at least 30-45 minutes, more if I spend time on the interior. I can go and pay someone to wash my car for $25, and they’ll do a far better job than I ever could. Now, if I enjoyed washing my car as a way to relax, then that’s fine. But I don’t. So I never wash my own car, because it gives me BACK that time to do something that I DO enjoy, or that can make me a LOT more money than $25. Make sense? Important Point: TIME is the only thing you can’t buy or get back. You can always make more money. Buy another car, house, clothes or anything else. But you CANNOT buy TIME, and that’s why successful people place more of a premium on their own time than ANYTHING ELSE. When I started drawing a line between what my time was worth and what I could pay someone else to do some of the tasks on hand, I started to immediately free up more time for myself. And then it was up to me what to do with that time, whether it was do work that generated far more revenue, or simply free time that I could relax with. Be aware of what YOUR time is worth, and start making conscious choices to only do things that are worth your time, and pay someone else to start doing some of the other stuff!]]>