Money Was Time ⏰

We have all heard the adage “Time Is Money” before, usually in the context of for every minute spent wasting time you’re losing money. This mentality, while true in some contexts, further pushes our culture’s damaging obsession with productivity. And that any time not working is considered wasted time. Today’s article is not about this.

I want to talk about the relationship between money and time a little differently. Rather than thinking of this relationship as “Time is Money”, reframe it to “Money Was Time”.

Time is our only true and most precious commodity. Once it is spent, you can’t ever get it back. The time you spent to earn your money meant you had to say no to something or someone else in order to work. The idea that you can make up for lost time is a farce.

Every dollar that you earn was traded for the time you spent earning it. So with that in mind and knowing that time is our most precious commodity, does it bring up any thoughts regarding your current financial habits? Are you using it in a way that honors that time traded? How are you spending it? How are you saving it? Are you putting it somewhere to grow? Are you getting the most out of it?

When I started to think about this relationship, I took a good hard look at my surroundings and belongings. Trinkets, products, appliances, accessories, even the amount of rent I was spending to live in the city were all being viewed through a new lens and I started see that I wasn’t honoring my precious time very well. I was wasting it away on things that didn’t matter and, ultimately, stealing from my future.

So try this exercise sometime: Take a look around at your things and price them out in time spent rather than dollar amount and see what comes up. Then report back! I would love to hear about it.