“The dollar value of my time.” I don’t remember exactly when I came across this thinking pattern. And somewhere I adopted it.
Initially, not in my day-to-day life. But mostly on the work front. It helped me in setting my priorities. It still does.
But something unexpected began to take place. It started percolating my other areas of life. Family, relationships, hobbies, etc.
It also started affecting my purchasing behavior. For example, I would opt for frozen peas over fresh peas. Because peeling peas once in a while didn’t justify the dollar value of my time. My time was too precious.
You can understand similar instances in my relationships.
There are several problems with adopting this thinking pattern. We end up robbing ourselves of satisfaction, joy, and connection.
A very simple act of eating is not just some routine exercise that we need to get over in minimal time. By saving a few minutes in vegetable preparation. Eating is a ritual that connects us with our physical selves. The machine that helps us exist. The pre and post of eating counts. The dollar-value thinking pollutes this ritual. No wonder we end up mentally unsatisfied with the tastiest of food options available at our fingertips.
The peas don’t matter. Their freshness doesn’t matter. As much as the process of how we got them on our plate matters. So, yes peel those peas.
Of course, I still believe in this thinking pattern when it comes to business and work.
I still stand by my thoughts in these past posts:
2. A Strange Paradox: Saying NO to say YES
4. What Are Our One-Foot Leverage Points?
Also, here is Naval Ravikant talking about time’s value. He is inspiring and an original thinker, but, I would pass on this one. Sorry.