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I've worked numerous crappy jobs and I've spent hours waiting on people who are running late. I've heard myself say numerous times, "this isn't worth my time." Well recently I've began to wonder what time really is worth to me. As I am currently unemployed I can say that right now i concider my time priceless, but I would like to know what you people think.








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"By the way I am high, I'm HIGH!!!" - Dave Chappelle

Our time on earth is priceless. At least i think so. But time is money and you need money to live in this society. I'm working a job I'm not exactly thrilled with (Kmart, registers). I'm sometimes late, mainly because I just don't care that much. So when I get told off I also don't really care, but I pretend to so I don't get fired. If I were to get fired I probably wouldn't mind, until I started getting low on cash of course. I dunno, I suppose in this world I should care about work and money a lot more than I do. I guess I'm just not cut out for a society in which a person is defined by their title and income.

Time only has worth if it used to be productive !

If you have committed yourself to lay aside a large portion of your time to contribute to the betterment of others then you can - without guilt - use a portion of the time that is left either doing nothing, ( resting ), or squandering it on recreation.

If you are not working and contributing then your time on this earth is being wasted !

I don't see a difference between doing nothing, and recreation.

Recreation usually takes a bit of effort but doing nothing doesn't !

Time is money. Is all about making that dollar to survive. As matter of fact as your reading this you're wasting your time. So stop reading this and go make money.

I think that money really isn't worth my time. I work enough to meet my basic needs, and some recreation, but I don't feel that I need to spend time and money in college to get a degree in something "productive" to make my time worth more. I think that there is great value in time spent recreationally, and time spent expanding myself in ways that do not benifit me financially. I am going to school right now to study history and native american studies. I know that its going to cost me $40K to get my degree and that I'll be making quite a bit less than some of my friends who are studying business and chemistry, but i think that I am improving myself much more than i would be if i were doing something "more worthwhile." That is why i am begining to think that it would be kind of difficult for someone to buy my time right now, I think that my time is beginging to be worth more to me personally than it is if i get paid to spend my time doing work for some one else. I know it is impossible for me right now to be economically independent enough to say that i won't work for money, but there is a definate cut-off. I wont work jobs that don't pay especially well, not that they are below my qualifications, but rather i'd rather have that time to myself. I dunno....

i'm always late

I can have a good time doing things that I wouldn't say are productive at all. I'd still consider it time well spent.

(Off to work in half and hour. )

Interesting points by all of you I believe.

Whats your time worth film phrophet?

WhiteEagle....

I see time for recreation, ( "having a good time" ), as time that is in the savings pot !

I mean by this that if you are enjoying yourself and "wasting" time in the process...( even although you may see this as time well-spent ), you must take this time from the amount available to be used to create and produce. If you have created enough stuff then you have every right to use-up stuff during your recreation periods.

One time-period ADDS to the savings pot and the other time-period SUBTRACTS from it.

I feel that if you do not PUT INTO the pot you have no right to TAKE OUT of it.

That, is time well-spent !

I don't know if I support your time pot idea. I think that it is after all your time, so you can use it as you see fit. I don't ration myself recreation time, mostly because I don't really keep track of how much work I do. I think I may not do what people consider to be 'enough' work. I mean, I do work, I don't just lay around all day. But when I'm not interested in a job I'm hardly going to do more than is required of me. I believe that humans need work, whether it be building a house or filing taxes. Have you ever heard the saying "Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies."? Another Camus quote, but I feel it's appropriate here. Lets just say I think there is a lot of soulless work around these days. I realize that some are needed for society to function, that doesn't mean I support them though.

Time is all we got, it's worth more than anything else.

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That' s why it' s called the present!

Nice words, but I think "what we leave behind is just as important as how we have lived"

I have a philosophy....( Well, it is the philosophy forum intit )....

There are three kinds of people in the world:

1). The creators and maintainers.

2). The users but often wasters.

3). The destroyers and spoilers.

I feel that if I can spend a bit of my time at number one I can then spend a bit of my time at number two !

If I spend a large proportion of my time at number three then I am a waste of time AND space.

I also agree with Paxelius that as we go along we make marks and if we cannot look back and admire those marks we are either stuck at number two or worse, at number three !

my time is worth about $22.35/hr.

My good times...are priceless...

At that hourly rate I would like to hire you for one hour to do a REALLY dangerous and dirty job.

Howsabout it ?

If I have my life to live over by Erma Bombeck:

"If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'GOOD' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace. I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth. I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed. I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage. I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains. I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life. I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime. Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment realizing that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle. When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love yous' ... more 'I'm sorrys' .....but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute.....look at it and really see it ... live it ... and never give it back."

In honor of Erma Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer.

I choose a life over a successful career and I won' t have the feeling of having wasted anything. If that - materialistically - means to have a little less instead of a bit more than I' m happy with that.

Right now? My time is worth about $7.50 an hour.

I agree with this, it is also the three aspects of GOD in hinduism;

Brahma - the creator,
Vishnu - the sustainer
and Shiva - the destoyer.

They'r in fact all equally important.

no thanks, i'd rather get paid for my technical skills than my testicular fortitude...

Right now my time is worth a chocolate donut and some milk.

time is worth a lot since all the time I lose is time I can't be wiv storm

Time is valuable. Once you lose it....you can't get it back.

$0.10 if I'm lucky.

But Time is relative. We lose Time in REM sleep. 8 hours a night. However an argument can be made for sleeping that enhances the time we do exist by prolonging our lifespan. So an answer to this question is inconclusive.

Those who love you and those you love are worth our time

Believe it or not.....people still make money when they are asleep. I like to call those people Foreign Stock Market investors. So yes! you can make money even when you're sleeping.

Sleep is definately worth the time lost because it makes the rest of your life so much better when you feel rested and refreshed...plus its like breathing, you have to do it.

WindDancer... do you have to be making money for your time to have worth? I dont think so....

You see Turbo-Cajun...I live in a very Capitalist Nation and money is of importance. Sure, I agree money isn't everything, but I'd much rather sleep with the feeling that my bank account is in good shape rather than living off the next paycheck. Plus, I look at my life in a long term. One day I'm going to get married...buy a house....have kids....send the kids to college....pay for their college.....so in order to do all that I better have a secure financial plan. And since I'm not a teen anymore...money is something I'm very watchful. Are you following what I'm saying?

I understand what yor saying kind of. As I've gotten older (I am almost 20) I've changed priorities...money has gained more importance, but most definately not gained the most importance. I don't think that will change. I have lived in the US for the last 18 1/2 years or so, so I am aware of how the economic principles of Capitalism work, I have studdied Adam Smith, and have been active in small business for a number of years, so when i measure my time's worth in terms of enjoyment and fufillement instead of dollar amounts it is not out of ignorance. I guess your postion (tell me if im wrong though) is that by getting as much money as you can for things like family and kids, you find fufillment and worth in your time,...i can accept that fairly easielly because i can understand that, its still shitty though that enjoyment and fufillment can have a price put on it though

That's what life is about....working and making that dollar to survive. Or you can run to monastery and be a monk.

As of now only my bf, my books, family,animals,roleplaying can have me freely, and some friends.

Other than that then I'm usually wishing I was doing something else.

I disagree.... but I can see how you are working your situation, just dont dig the philosophy behind it.

That's how I see it. That's what makes life interesting also.....we all have different experiences...sometimes we shared those experiences with others. Sometimes you don't and that's where we are all different....how's that for a philosophical thought?

I can live with that.

haha

my time isnt worth spendning it with people, who pretend to be my freinds but truely hate me. my time isnt worth spending discussion with my parents.
My time here is short and i want to enjoy my time on my own and not how other poeple want me to be. and my time as teenager is even shorter so this time isnt worth spendning it on duscussion and fights with anyone.

After you move out, time with your parents is worth spending time on, when your living at home you always have conflict and sometimes you can even hate them, but when you have your space, you begin to appreciate them a little bit more.

I know. But I'm not that close to them. They dodnt respect me.- And my time is not worth spending with them in afigh. it is worth a good conversation with them. i like spending time with them when they are nice to me...

Yeah, I know what your saying... still though, I know with my paretns that they are starting to get old now and one day they won't be around. So even though I don't always get along with them and everything I still call them every now and then go to visit them, because I do care about them even though we do fight and I don't want to be sorry someday that I didn't do more with them.

Wow, I can't believe I stumbled upon this forum by doing a search for What is my time worth?

Everyone has so many great thoughts. I must say, as I was reading through I was somewhat shocked to hear the age and realized I am an old man in contrast, at 38!

Your words about spending time with your parents and then moving out and missing them.. so true.. and when you are with them, you need to find space.

I have, without starting a book here, found myself trying to figure out this and just what is "the meaning of life". Since I have been married, then divorced and now quite happily in love, happy but by no means comfortable with my financial picture, but this is because I work for myself now, as a consultant.. computers mostly, but I like to think more of 'common sense' when it comes to "business" consulting.

After all, there is no sure thing, although Bill Gates has done ok, to life, business, or your own future. Listening to how your plans sound wise, to have money in the bank and be comfortable so that you can afford to get married, have children, watch them grow old and leave home, yourself retire and live a great life. In theory that sounds great, while others may say to spend it as you get it and live for the moment is the way to go. I can say I have done both. Infact to sum it up, I was at the lowest I could imagine myself in my life at one point, about one phone call away from being a homeless person. Why? Becuase of my ex-wife in most part, but I can't blame her for everything, afterall it takes two, a legal system and the inability to make money in time to make a difference. This is where having money in the bank would really become a benefit so it become sort of a vicious circle.. you have to spend money to make money... but the key is to not spend too much money in the process.

As a computer consultant/technician, I find myself spending more and more time with computers and less time with people. This is something that I do not mind, however that is becuase I am trying to make the most of the time I do spend when I am with people. Quality of life is important but to have a balance in life is even more important. Yes, it is true that you can never have too much of a good thing, but even when you do have an abundance of one thing, you will always be looking for something else. It is only human to be curious and to always want to consume and grow and learn.

As I sit through reading these posts I realize that I do not have much time as I am having to "go to work" which means visit with clients and return computers that I have been working on from my bench. This means that I am basically always working. So when reading this, my mind became fixated on it and until I could read everything , I knew I couldn't do anything else until I could atleast comment. But now I am late and will continue this later.. I have so many "ideas" that I have wanted to share with people that would be interested in listening and am quite hopful that the people reading this thread may be interested in commenting on some things I have to say as my thoughts.

Really deep

Heartfelt thoughts are the best. They go deep into your mind, and draw together thousands of strands to put forward an idea as focused as a neutron star. I love'm.

Nice post mdacre. I got similar views except I'm a bit more greedy with my time. I see money making and success as part of work. And like I said before living in a nation that is so capitalistic is hard to avoid things that involved money. The more you make the more you spend.

Whats more important, the time you have or what you do with it

both are important but what u do with it is more important

but if u just go after spendin n earnin money, ur livelyhood, personal satisfaction or societial acceptance, i can guaruntee u that when u get old or before u are about to die, u will be saying, was all that really worth the time i used on them, the answer will be NO, these things are not worth ur time or ur life, they are just useless purposeless fruitless pirsuits that wont matter in the least, its the simple things that matter the most.{the best things in life are free}