Forget the whole “time is money” thing. The key isn’t that time can generate money, but the other way around—time is our most important (but limited) resource, and money can be a means to gain more of it. We face these decisions all the time: is it worthwhile to spend an hour surfing the internet for a discount code in order to save $10? Should you hire someone to clean your place, or do it yourself? It Depends.

忘了“時(shí)間就是金錢”這件事吧。問題的重點(diǎn)不在于時(shí)間能產(chǎn)生多少錢，而是其他一些關(guān)鍵因素。時(shí)間是我們最重要的有限資源，而金錢卻可以變得越來越多。我們一直都面臨著這樣的抉擇：到底值不值得花一個(gè)小時(shí)在網(wǎng)上找優(yōu)惠券只為了節(jié)約十塊錢？你是應(yīng)該雇人來打掃家務(wù)還是自己動(dòng)手做？這要看情況。

Figuring out what your time is worth isn’t about what you are worth as a person, and how much you make at work is just the starting point. We’ve created a calculator to help you estimate that magic number so that you have a gauge to keep in mind when you’re making decisions.

要搞清楚自己的時(shí)間到底值多少錢，并不取決于你個(gè)人的價(jià)值。而你在工作中的薪酬也只是一個(gè)參考的起價(jià)而已。我們找到了一個(gè)計(jì)算方式來幫助你評(píng)估你的時(shí)間價(jià)值，這樣在做決定的時(shí)候，你就可以有個(gè)大致的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)了。

How Did You Get This Number? If you don’t have a lot of disposable income, your time “value” goes down because you are better served saving money. If you have less time, your time value is higher than if you have a lot to spare. Finally, your current priorities matter. All these factors weigh into our algorithm. (These calculations are based on working a 40-hour week, 50 weeks a year.).

你要如何才能估計(jì)出自己的時(shí)間值多少錢呢？如果你沒有一些可支配收入的話，那么你的時(shí)間價(jià)值就要低一些，因?yàn)槟悻F(xiàn)在最需要做的是存錢。如果你的時(shí)間較少，那么你的時(shí)間價(jià)值就要高于那些有很多時(shí)間的人。最后，你當(dāng)前最主要的任務(wù)也會(huì)影響到你的時(shí)間價(jià)值。所有的這些因素都會(huì)在計(jì)算時(shí)間價(jià)值中被考慮在內(nèi)（該計(jì)算是基于一周工作40小時(shí)，一年工作50周的人的情況來完成的）。

Say that your free time is worth roughly $12 per hour: If that taxi ride will cost about $10 and save you an hour compared to taking the subway, then it might be the right call. If it’s going to cost you $20, maybe you should think again. Use this to help you figure out:

假設(shè)你的時(shí)間每小時(shí)價(jià)值約12塊。如果打車一次花費(fèi)10塊錢，比坐地鐵節(jié)省一小時(shí)，那么你還是叫車吧。如果打車一次要花費(fèi)20塊，那你就要再想一想了。利用這個(gè)原則，來考慮以下這些問題：

*Whether you should order in or cook

你是應(yīng)該點(diǎn)外賣還是自己下廚

*Whether you should hire someone to clean, organize, fix things, or do it yourself

你是應(yīng)該雇人來打掃、整理、維修還是自己動(dòng)手

*Whether time spent on the phone with customer service to save $X is worth it

你是不是值得花時(shí)間打電話跟客服溝通就為了省下X錢

This calculator is just a rough guide, so obviously your budget comes first — and the enjoyment you get from some of these activities (like cooking or DIY) should factor in. But it can be useful to start thinking of your time as the most precious commodity of all…and weighing it with as much value as you do your dollars.

這個(gè)計(jì)算只是一個(gè)簡單的指導(dǎo)而已。顯然在此之前，你的預(yù)算情況，以及從事一些活動(dòng)是否能帶來的樂趣（比如烹飪或者自己動(dòng)手制作），這些因素也要考慮在內(nèi)。但是，這給了你一個(gè)很好的啟示，從現(xiàn)在開始就要把時(shí)間當(dāng)成是你最寶貴的商品，要把它看得和金錢一樣有價(jià)值。