We’ve all heard the saying, “Time is money.” And while the IDEA behind that is fantastic (that your time is valuable) it unfortunately influences you to measure the VALUE of your time in DOLLARS.

Let me tell you what I mean…

I heard someone talking recently about the importance of knowing how much your time is worth. And they were talking LITERALLY. Like, if you worked 40 hours per week and, after taxes and everything, you ended up bringing in $1200 a week – then you divide the number of hours by the dollar amount and know that one of your hours is worth $30.

Really? Spending time with your family is worth $30/hour? Being stuck in traffic for an hour is worth $30. Does that mean that being stuck in traffic is as valuable as spending time with your family?

See the problem? It just doesn’t make sense.

All the hours that I spend working with charities – even if there is no money coming in at all… does that mean that time has no value??  That time is VERY valuable to me.

That’s the problem with using money as the basis to measure the value of your time. It’s ridiculous!

So…

Takeaway #1 : Don’t let other people define how much your time is worth.

Well, how SHOULD you value your time?

That’s a good question! Here’s an exercise that might help:

Picture yourself in 20 years. Now imagine looking back on these past few years of your life and think about what jumps out at you as “time well-spent.” What have you done that made you feel fantastic? That will give you a clue as to what you really VALUE.

THAT is what gives your time value. So, realizing that, use THAT as the basis for how you value your time instead of money.

Takeaway #2 : Don’t SPEND your time, INVEST it.

It’s so important to do what you’re passionate about – whether for work or for play. But NO ONE ELSE can tell you how to evaluate what your time is worth. Because THEY don’t know what’s important to you. They THINK they do because money is something that we’ve all agreed has a certain defined value. So that’s how most people measure success and that’s how they’ll be trying to measure your success and how you spend your time.

But remember, that’s where the idea of INVESTING your time comes in (or spending your time wisely.)

If you invest time in yourself – developing something you are passionate about, or educating yourself about how to share that passion with others — that time is much more valuable because it’s attached to something that you value greatly!

And this isn’t a constant! Be prepared to have it change!

I value the nights that I’m able to go and have dinner with my parents. But if I’m not going to see them for a while, then that seems much more valuable. Why? It’s the same activity. It’s the same amount of time. But the perceived value is different in one circumstance. And that’s healthy. Allow yourself to be fluid with that.

That brings up the…

3rd Takeaway: How you spend your time is even more important than how you spend your money.

Perhaps those of us choosing to work in a time-freedom business value our TIME much more than the average person? Maybe it’s hard for others to measure time in that way?

So Takeaway #4: If you fill your time with what you are passionate about… with what you VALUE… it’s really hard to make a wrong choice!

Someone once asked me, “What do you do when different passions collide?”

What he meant was, if I have the choice between spending time at home (with the people and puppies I love) and the opportunity to go to a business seminar (learning more about how to share what I love with others)… THEN how do you choose? They are both passions!

That REALLY makes me laugh.. Because what an embarrassment of riches that is!!!

When you have to choose between two things that you love, that makes either decision right! I can’t lose! I go with what seems right in that moment and whichever option I choose, my time is well-spent and extremely valuable!

So how about YOU? When you think about what your time is worth, what values do you use to measure that?

If you have your own ideas about how to measure the value of time, please feel free to share them in the comments below. We can all learn, grow and be inspired by each other here and if you have found something that works for you, I’d love to hear about it!

Note: Please know that while we appreciate all of your thoughts and ideas, we automatically delete comments with links to websites or videos on other sites to try and cut down on people trying to spam our site.

If there is one overall thing I want you to walk away with, it’s this: How you invest your time is much more important than how you spend your money.