4 ms·

Actually it's not difficult. Calculate your hourly wage (salary + benefits)/hours_worked, and value all of your time as such. It will help you a lot to avoid wa

Actually it's not difficult. Calculate your hourly wage (salary + benefits)/hours_worked, and value all of your time as such. It will help you a lot to avoid wasting time doing stuff you don't like that you can pay people to do for you at a lower cost to you.

ghaff 12y ago
That makes the assumption that you can earn that wage in the incremental time you gain by having someone do a task for you. Maybe if you're an independent consultant or otherwise have a business where you bill by the hour and are turning down work you simply don't have time to do but would otherwise be happy to take it. But that doesn't describe most people. I do pay to have a number of things done for me on a regular basis that I either don't like to do or don't consistently have the time to do (like getting my lawn cut), but it's more about how much I'm willing to pay for the service as opposed to how the $/hour compares to what I earn.
- VLM 12y ago
  "like getting my lawn cut" This is a particularly bad example, because not only would I have to pay someone to mow my lawn for me, to get my light exercise I'd also have to pay to use someone else's treadmill to get my exercise. This is starting to get expensive and rapidly looking cheaper to just mow my own lawn. "turning down work" - If I have 8 hrs of work per day and waste 2 hrs of time per day on the internet, I'd rather waste internet time on the couch at home, than try to sneak it in at work because I did some of my work elsewhere. If I work extra hard for free, my great-great-great-grand-boss might get a bigger bonus, but all I'll get is less free time in my life, absolutely nothing more.
pjc50 12y ago
You've forgotten to deduct tax.
gutnor 12y ago
That only work if can bill your employer for all the hours you work. For example, it does not matter if I work more than 8 hours a day, I will be paid the same. So if I hire somebody to wash the dishes in the evening, it is costing me money. The value I get out of it is quality of life and is difficult to quantify. Even for people running their own business on the side. Times and times again we see article on HN how IT guys can't really be more productive than a few hours a day. Also, to get back to my dish washing example - I ( and other on HN too ) noticed that that sort of repetitive work is a lot better for reflection. Replacing it with a 1 hour session playing games, working or other activities may actually be overall detrimental to your side business. What is actually useful though is to use your hourly salary to evaluate the cost of the services you buy. Like why would I expect a professional with more than 10 years experience in his field, coming to my place in the evening to work for less than 10$ a hour ?

ghaff 12y ago

That makes the assumption that you can earn that wage in the incremental time you gain by having someone do a task for you. Maybe if you're an independent consultant or otherwise have a business where you bill by the hour and are turning down work you simply don't have time to do but would otherwise be happy to take it. But that doesn't describe most people. I do pay to have a number of things done for me on a regular basis that I either don't like to do or don't consistently have the time to do (like getting my lawn cut), but it's more about how much I'm willing to pay for the service as opposed to how the $/hour compares to what I earn.

VLM 12y ago
"like getting my lawn cut" This is a particularly bad example, because not only would I have to pay someone to mow my lawn for me, to get my light exercise I'd also have to pay to use someone else's treadmill to get my exercise. This is starting to get expensive and rapidly looking cheaper to just mow my own lawn. "turning down work" - If I have 8 hrs of work per day and waste 2 hrs of time per day on the internet, I'd rather waste internet time on the couch at home, than try to sneak it in at work because I did some of my work elsewhere. If I work extra hard for free, my great-great-great-grand-boss might get a bigger bonus, but all I'll get is less free time in my life, absolutely nothing more.

pjc50 12y ago

You've forgotten to deduct tax.

gutnor 12y ago

That only work if can bill your employer for all the hours you work. For example, it does not matter if I work more than 8 hours a day, I will be paid the same. So if I hire somebody to wash the dishes in the evening, it is costing me money. The value I get out of it is quality of life and is difficult to quantify. Even for people running their own business on the side. Times and times again we see article on HN how IT guys can't really be more productive than a few hours a day. Also, to get back to my dish washing example - I ( and other on HN too ) noticed that that sort of repetitive work is a lot better for reflection. Replacing it with a 1 hour session playing games, working or other activities may actually be overall detrimental to your side business. What is actually useful though is to use your hourly salary to evaluate the cost of the services you buy. Like why would I expect a professional with more than 10 years experience in his field, coming to my place in the evening to work for less than 10$ a hour ?