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Most would say it is priceless, and yet how do we act? Instead of guarding this, we give it away to things that matter far less to us, but that seem more urgent in the moment. Especially work. Why do we do this?
I explore this in some detail in this new article in which I:
- do a thought experiment thinking about how we think about the value of an hour with our loved ones, and then think about the value of an hour of work
- take a look at some simple math of what working additional hours really means (TLDR; if you earn a salary and don’t earn overtime pay this often means that you are taking a 34-66% pay cut, which results in some ridiculous potential statements in getting home like “Hi Honey, I just worked 4 extra hours, missed our family time, and seeing the kids, and did it for a 34% hourly pay cut!”)
- see what assuming just basic equality between and hour of work and hour of time with your family means (what is $10,000 of extra family time?)
- look at end of life surveys to see what people really regret at the end of their lives (hint: it is not working more)
And then we explore 5 steps that can change this and some of the neuroscience and organizational psychology data that supports these steps. In short, these are:
- Set clear time limits for yourself at work
- Set priorities and time estimates for every task you do
- Plan and replan your days, and work in focused, prioritized time blocks
- Use the urgency of the shorter hours to drive yourself into more efficient work practices
- Learn how to say no well to lower value work and tasks (especially now that you know how valuable your family and personal time is)
If you want to know the details, feel free to read the full article.
