The Cost of Lost Opportunity
How much is that two-hour lunch break costing you? How much earning power are you wasting when you decide quitting time is a few hours early today? Have you ever asked yourself what the value of your time actually is? The actual dollar-figure of each hour of your life? It can be an eye-opener and an impetus to change work habits.
Your time is valuable to you; everyone who has to sit through dull meetings or who pushes paper without putting much thought into it knows that your time is not being used to its best advantage. You may not be able to control all these time-wasters, but what about those common ones we all encounter? Long lunch breaks, early Friday afternoons, missed meetings, a dead end job. Just how much is it costing you?
If you have a billable rate for clients, you can figure this out quite easily. Say you charge $200 per hour. Does this mean that every hour you are not doing billable work costs you $200? That two-hour lunch break? $400. Leaving a half hour early? $100. How much lost income do you accrue at the end of a week? A month? A year? Maybe $100 loss now and then for the sake of your mental health is worth it; but the cost of frequent lost opportunities can – and do – add up quickly.
You will probably find that your free time is extremely valuable! And your work time becomes that much more efficient.
