Stop Wasting Your Time!

Seriously. Stop it.

If you don't spend your time wisely, you are literally wasting it away. Why do that when you could be living your best life by spending your time the way you choose?

That is the goal in life, right?

But chances are, you're not using your time as wisely as you should. And once you figure out what is worth your time and what isn't, you'll be able to cut out the time-wasters and focus on what's important.

But how do you know if it's worth your time? There are 4 major costs to consider.

Monetary Cost

Even if you aren't opening your wallet, what you are spending your time on could be costing you money.

Think of it this way: if you work at $40/hr and you are spending 1 hour a day just scrolling through facebook, you are costing yourself over $9,000 a year.

Yes, you read that right. If you are a freelancer, and you choose to spend your time watching crazy cat videos on YouTube, you are costing yourself money.

Time is money. It's time to stop scrolling and focus.

Time Value Cost

There are some things we do that are simply time-suckers. Ironing sheets, checking facebook memes, restacking the dishwasher someone else filled up: all unimportant time-suckers. Get rid of them.

Time-wasters can also be tasks you are doing but should be delegated to other people. You might be an amazing clothing designer, but that doesn't mean that you're an amazing seamstress. Or an amazing illustrator. Or an amazing stylist. Or retail buyer. Or factory manager. Or marketer. Or salesperson.

I think you get the point.

If you're trying to do all the jobs that aren't yours, you're going to eat up all your time doing the work someone else could be doing better and faster. Delegate where you can, and then the whole business will thrive and time won't be wasted.

Emotional Cost

Are you working at home while your kids are playing in the next room? You might feel like you're missing out on spending time with them.

Are you working at the office late instead of coming home to your spouse for your regular dinner? You might feel like you're missing out on the quality time you typically spend.

Are you taking an extra shift somewhere and missing out on a family event? Bet you feel a little guilty about that, too.

All of that is emotional cost. And while sometimes, it's good and necessary to put the time into work, you have to figure out for yourself if the emotional cost is worth it all the time.

Physical Cost

The last time I ordered a new pair of glasses, I was given the option to add a coating to protect my eyes from blue light computers give off.

I find it so interesting how companies are constantly creating products to counteract the physical costs of technical jobs- standing desks, lumbar support chairs, and now lenses to protect your eyes from computer lights! I can only imagine the market out there to protect people from more physically demanding jobs.

But if those countermeasures don't work for you, it may be time to ask yourself if there is another way you could work your job that isn't so hard on your body.

So what now? 

Now that you know the cost of spending your time, you can determine if a task is worth it. 

Your time is valuable. Make sure you're spending it wisely.

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Catch me over at my website at: www.AmandaBJaeger.com