Module 4 · Your direction
Day 9 of 11 · about 10 minutes
Most people guard their money far more carefully than their time. We'll compare prices to save a few dollars, then lose a whole Saturday to errands we dread.
What the research found
A team led by Ashley Whillans surveyed 6,271 people in the United States, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands. Those who spent money to save time, for example by paying for help with chores, reported greater life satisfaction (PNAS, 2017). In a small experiment, 60 working adults spent $40 on a time-saving purchase one weekend and $40 on a material purchase another. They were happier after buying time.
The same research found that few people actually do this, even when they can afford it.
Try this today (10 minutes)
- List the tasks you dread most in a normal week.
- Pick one and find a way to buy it back: pay for it, trade it with a neighbor, simplify it or drop it.
- Decide what you'll do with the hour you get back, before someone else decides for you.
The honest note
Buying time takes money that not everyone has, and the experiment was small. Some time isn't worth outsourcing at all. The hours with your family are usually the ones you're trying to protect, not hand off.
Write it down: print Workbook 4, Your direction. It has space for this lesson’s exercise and a week tracker.
The Selfmade Course · Day 9 of 11
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