How are you investing your time?

Today, unfortunately (but also fortunately) many people have more time than they ever imagined. As I write this, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic caused by the coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it’s officially known. An unprecedented 26 million people have filed for unemployment five weeks into the crisis as almost the entire population of the US is stuck at home waiting until infections go down.

Those that are still working, have more time than they used to as well. With nearly all social engagements off, the evenings and weekends are pretty much free.

But the stress, of course, is very high...especially for those parents who both work and have the mentality I stated above, that working harder means making more, while also trying to take care of their kids. During this crisis, however, perhaps the sentiment is more, working harder will mean keeping my job. I think many people have found that’s not true.

Interestingly, many of these highly-capable employees are spending their days on video conference calls, which make them even more tired than regular work. They’ve even coined a term for it called “Zoom fatigue.”

Those that are unemployed are spending time trying to find work, or waiting it out by watching Netflix, which is experiencing record growth since the end of March, and playing video games, which are also soaring. Very few are using the time to grow. And that is the reason many people will come out of this crisis as poor or poorer than they were before it.

The poor invest their time...poorly—working for money

If you ask most people why they’re working so hard...or looking for work if they’re one of the 25 million unemployed, they’ll tell you it’s for money.

By this, they mean a steady paycheck that provides security. Money is one of the primary reasons people take on thousands of dollars in college loans to get a degree for a high-paying job that they don’t like but which they spend most of their waking hours at — all while the things they really love in life sit on the sidelines waiting for them to finish working.

The problem with this approach is that you only make money as long as you work. The only thing of value that you have to sell is your time. So, in order to make more money, you have to work longer hours, which is physically taxing.

Because you only have a finite amount of time and energy, as an employee, your earning potential is finite.

There is A Better Way........................