Productivity & Lifestyle - synching up Part 2 - Hiring

Last week I began discussing approaches to synching your lifestyle to productivity. The first option to getting yourself more time for the important things is hire someone to do things around home. Having people to take care of things for a lower rate than you earn is the ideal scenerio here. For example, if you earn $75,000 per year (or $36.00 per hour, not factoring benefits or taxes) hiring someone at $10 per hour could be justified because hiring help frees you to do the more profitable activities. Your hourly earnings can bring in someone for nearly one-half day of assistance.

Some of you are thinking, "I'm perfectly capable of trimming my bushes, painting the living room (and I always wanted to do faux finishing!), or doing my own laundry." And, I ask, "If you had a half-day without the responsibilities around home, would you be more refreshed to

perform better at your job, as a life partner or spouse, as a parent, or as a member of your community? Or, would you maybe just have more fun or 'get a life'?" Think of the things that you do because you can but not because you like to do them...

• Wash clothes
• Cook every day
• Cut the grass
• Run errands
• Do the landscaping
• Paint
• Clean
• File your important papers
• Administrative tasks
• (please comment and let us know the #1 & #2 thing you'll never miss if you never do it again)

Now imagine a competent person offloading that work so you could

• Catch your breath
• Make it to the kids' games
• Generate more money-making opportunities and contact
• Take a course for fun or professional development
• Take a walk
• Spend more time with your parents, siblings, and friends
• Indulge in your favorite hobby, or a new one

Owning a home is the American Dream. You're rarely told of the weight of responsibilities that go with home ownership. And let me reinforce that you don't have to carry that weight alone. You can hire help!

Comments

[Anna D.]

I love this idea, but I have no idea where to start looking for someone. Grocery shopping is the thing I would love to hire someone to do!

[Mike St. Pierre]

Thanks for this excellent post! I find that even a little help goes a long way.

Keep up the good work,
Mike

[Jeri Dansky]

Yes, yes, yes! I've hired out landscaping design, yard maintenance, and painting.

I don't like doing yard work, so it always fell to the bottom of my list and my yard looked unkempt; now it looks fine. And the painter and landscaper not only save me time - they do a much better job than I would have done.