How Much Is Your Time Worth?

Do you place a monetary value on your time?  The answer here has to be “Of Course!” Obviously if your boss didn’t come up with your paycheck, you might give the employer a little bit of time to get with the program.  Eventually though, you would go elsewhere.  For money is what makes the world go ’round, we have to have a certain amount of it, no matter how wonderful a person we are. 

That said, how do you value the time you choose to donate to volunteer activities?  Maybe you only gave a moment, but how much was that moment worth?  Do you know off the top of your head?  Could you answer the question in less than, oh say ten minutes?

Strange question maybe, but one I have to ask of volunteers who work with our program.  Many volunteer programs receive grants or other funding that require the organization to match a percentage amount in donations of time or goods.  Goods are somewhat easy to get in donations, but the general public doesn’t give materials in large amounts.  Therefore, time is actually worth more to the organization. 

Example:Would it be easier for you financially to hand me $100 worth of copy paper, or easier to volunteer a little time here and there over the month.  Maybe that answer depends on your financial status, but then again with the price of gas and the economy right now, maybe not so much!     

 When a person works with us/for us in some capacity we have to fill out a form for that month, logging hours or parts of (you know the saying every minute counts!) and place a dollar figure on that donated time, which the individual has to sign.  This has become the least favorite part of my job!  It doesn’t matter seem to matter whether the individual is a doctor, lawyer, plumber or housewife (yes, I know there’s a joke there, but I won’t go for it, we’re being serious) they all react with embarassement and consistently undervalue the time. 

What? Did I say lawyers who undervalue their time?  Yes I know this is unheard of but trust me I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes.    Not a pretty sight when you actually need them to charge for every microsecond!  Because time does add up, every penny counts, old sayings that are applicable here.  Even when I explain why I need them to do this they are very uncomfortable.  The question is why?

Is it for the same reason many people have difficulty asking the boss for a raise?  Is it because they chose to give the time and one shouldn’t ask the price of a gift?  I suppose it can seem impolite to ask someone to put a price tag on a gift, but many freely state the amount, or at least loudly hint what it might be worth.  The same individual would easily give a ballpark figure on what supplies are worth, but are speechless when asked what their time was worth.

Maybe the question here is do you place a dollar figure on your effort?  Certainly the two are different things.  Some tasks are effortless for me, but would be difficult for others and vice versa.  That shouldn’t mean their effort was worth less to me, or mine to them.  In fact the opposite holds true in my mind. 

If you choose to give of your time/effort, should that not be worth more than your hourly pay?  In my experience, those who volunteer usually put a great amount of effort and caring into what they do for others. While doing so, they are giving up other activities to volunteer.  Sometimes really pressing and necessary duties, like cleaning out the garage!  Now having a good reason to avoid cleaning the garage are worth quite a bit I would think! 

How much is that extra work hour in the day, that hour less of sleep, that hour which was given instead of used in the movies, worth?  Post a comment, I’m keenly interested in knowing how you value your time.    

Mentors

As a lifelong seeker of knowledge I’ve learned much from others.   Some of these people would be surprised because the weren’t tryiing to teach me anything.  We often don’t realize what our actions say about us.  Modeling to elicit a desired behavior is an old tool, but not one that works just when we  take it out of the box.   We would do well to remember this!

I recently asked a question on LinkedIn about people’s mentors.  I received alot of positive responses. some more in depth than others.  This made me question: Is there a difference between a mentor and a role model?  Probably a moot point but I would say a role model can be anyone, sports stars, nobel prize winners, etc.  My definition of a mentor is someone who you’ve had contact with, that makes an impact on  who you choose to be, who helps you grow as an individual.  Not necessarily someone who specifically takes you under their wing and nurtures your growth.  Others may disagree with this definition..ok you can.  Moving on…

Why should someone take the time to mentor?  Simply because life is a long hard road and we make more progress as intelligent beings if we exchange knowledge with others.  The internet will play a big role in this in the future. but that’s another thread I think. 

Why should we care to make the way easier for others, well I think I answered this already but I’ll give you a case in point.

Her name is Julie Gray, she taught me a great deal.  We worked closely together in a volunteer group, though we’ve long since lost touch, I still want to thank her.  I frequently use one of the most valuable lessons learned from her: how to address a problem, and how to discuss it with others.  She explained once why she always did this.  Not to whine or gain sympathy, but to gain knowledge.  “How will you know if someone else has the answer, or maybe they have the same experience and you find the problem is more widespread- maybe you actually have a different problem than you thought.”  She had an amazing talent in locating the root of a problem and orchestrating a fix. By doing this she was also able to enlighten others as to how the problem was able to develop, and to take measures to see the environement didn’t continue, allowing a problem to resurface.   

Mentoring as an organized activity rises and falls in popularity, but is a part of our daily life whether we’re aware we’re doing it or not.  Who are you mentoring?  What lessons are you teaching?  Post a comment to share.

 

Reserve the Right to Learn From Your Mistakes!

I’m of the opinion that learning is an activity that should have a priority in your life.  If you stop learning you stop growing.  When you stop growing- well you start doing the opposite.  No not shrinking- dying!  A kind of death anyway, the death of the soul which to me is the worst sort!

The mistakes we make in life are due to lack of knowledge.  Whether we were being intentionally ignorant or just haven’t learned something yet.  Even if you knew better – yet did it anyway- you cannot claim you did so with full knowledge, or you wouldn’t see it as a mistake. 

Mistakes are the learning experiences that have the most impact on us.   I can tell you there’s certain things I will never do again!  Some that have to do with electricity, some that are relationship based! How many mistakes have you made?  How many do you admit to?  The experience of being wrong is painful yes.  Not usually deadly though. Mistakes we survive give us an opportunity to amend them in some way and hopefully help others by teaching from our experience.  Hence why I am bothered by some people’s inability to admit to mistakes.  

This isn’t something to be afraid of.  Will people see you in a different light- yes probably!  It will either give them a higher opinion of you or a reason to talk behind your back.  If this frightens you, well here is another thing you haven’t learned yet.  How to be comfortable with yourself and not depend on the opinion of others!  Get over that. 

 I do make mistakes.  Look at that I admitted it and  the world didn’t end.  We all do when we’re rushed, overtired, preoccupied.  (Yes, we need to learn to manage ourselves better)  My subconcious takes care of these most of the time.  Perhaps I have an overactive subconcious, it seems to sit around- pen in hand- writing flash cards which it flings up to the conscious mind.  Here’s one of my most memorable

” You know you just dropped your movies in the mailbox right?”

What did I learn from this mistake?  Quite alot.  How to be embarassed for one.  How to readlily admit an error to complete strangers.  How to laugh at my humanity.  Also, the US postal service does have a sense of humor but it’s a dark one. 

There are forms to fill out, waiting periods, everything but a full body cavity search.  Now you would think a mailman would just go out, open the little door at the bottom, see yes, you were telling the truth- DVD’s from Blockbuster do not belong there, and give them back.  This is not the case.  The long waiting period (prior to the new BB return policy)  meant I had to go to the video store and explain my delay in returning them.  The clerk found it hilarious.  I enjoyed that, but had to admit it was funny.