Time Stylers Tool Kit – Financial Costs
As a busy woman, time is short – you don’t have a lot to spare. And if you are not spending your tell well, there will be a cost impact on you, your career or your lifestyle. It’s good to look at time management costs through 4 different lenses:
- Financial Cost
- Opportunity Cost
- Emotional Cost
- Physical Cost
Today, I’m focusing on Financial Cost.
Your time is money and Financial Cost is just that – the cost to you in dollar terms of each task you perform. Do this in 3 simple steps:
Step 1
Calculate your hourly rate. If you charge your time out on an hourly basis, use this value. If not, find a reasonably accurate hourly rate by dividing your annual salary by the number of hours you work a year (if you work 50 hours a week, that’s 2600 hours a year).
Step 2
Apply your hourly rate to every task you perform on a daily basis. I have played out a few scenarios assuming an hourly rate of $50:
- if you spend 2 hours a day commuting that’s costing you $36,500 a year (think about using your commuting time to make networking calls or update your professional development via business podcasts);
- if you spend 20 minutes a morning making school lunches, that’s costing you $4300 a year (if your kids are 10 years or older, they can do this themselves, seriously)
- if you spend 4 hours a day on administrative tasks that’s costing you $52,000 a year (think about engaging a VA or a PA)
- if you spend 4 hours on Sunday cleaning your home, that’s a $400 clean! (a cleaner will take 3 hours and cost you $25 an hour).
Step 3
Be financially mindful – for each task you perform ask yourself ‘Is this really the best use of my time?’ If you can’t answer ‘Yes’ to that question, it’s time to move on to something more productive.
Time Stylers (www.timestylers.com) founder Kate Christie (above) is a time management specialist, speaker and the author of best selling book, “Me Time – The Professional Woman’s Guide to Finding 30 Guilt-Free Hours a Month”, which walks readers through a proven 5 step process to find and harness lost time. Connect with Kate to have her speak at your next event or to help you and your team improve your productivity.
