People might work really hard while they're young so that they can retire early and be happy and secure later. Those people would look like they value money more than their time, and probably aren't going to be very happy right now, but in 30 years they're going to be much happier than people still working full-time.
Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
71–80 of 216 posts
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#72I've shunned founding startups or working at startups for the last ~3 years, and instead worked 15-20 hr/wk usually remotely. Time is your greatest asset, personally and professionally. It's how you stay abreast of the great opportunities of our time. You need that freedom to explore things that pique your interest or move you. Founding a startup means becoming mostly blind to the other great opportunities, which is…
Being able to work remotely and at 20-40 hours a week would change my life - seriously. I know there is lots of information around on becoming a freelancer, but do you have any particular insights?
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#73Because valuing time more than money is a luxury afforded primarily by people with plenty of money.
Very close to my reaction. Having whichever you value is a big factor in happiness. Rich people have money and crave time. The unemployed have time and crave money. No surprise which of those is happier. The more interesting cases are people who don't have a lot of either but give up time for money (most of us) or give up money for time (ski bums, monks, bohemians of many kinds). Which we pursue is a strong statement…
How did you make the decision to go part time instead of full time? Did you have a sizable amount of cash saved up before choosing to do so, or did you do the math, figure "I only need $X to live each month so I'll only work enough hours to make that"? If that's the case, how are you saving money for retirement? Or do you just want to live out your retirement as a ski bum, or a monk?
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
A founder who doesn't take vacations or spend time with their family will most likely go crazy and fail.
I am someone who really doesn’t like vacations. I don’t like travel, I don’t like hotels, and I don’t like eating in restaurants all the time. What I do like is living for an extended period of time in a new location where I can really get a feel for the place (months not days). I go years without a vacation then move somewhere for 6 months or longer.
How do you decide where to move next? Do you follow work? Or do you work remotely?
I would love to do this but find moving to be incredibly stressful, and moving every six months I would feel like I don't have a real "home".
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#75I should be very happy. Oh! I live in misery.
I have some bums I know that can testify the same: having time and no money sux.
I have written Klines of codes in a lot of language, but writing big brother software that impoverish people even if my boss gives me extra time for my life balance makes me sad.
These studies focus on biased population that don't experience poverty, nor seems to care about the others either by ignorance or by convenience (which is worse).
I am ruined, anxious, not(happy) (which is different from unhappy) ... but I still have the will to be able to help people suffering more than me... and worst of all I cannot even donate my blood, I come from Europa in Canada.
But not being happy does not mean being down. I am superficially unhappy, I will find a way to make things better for both me and people I meet.
Happyness is like rain, boring and cold. But it makes you enjoy the sun.
I am not happy and I am angry. It makes me feel as alive as when I wed with the one I love. Being told that not being happy is negative, is the same as if I was told to cut my balls because dick is so much more important.
Sorry, I like them both.
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
People say that and it seems true to some extent, but financially, people rarely fall into the categories of "limitless wealth" and "not a penny to my name." It's almost like a false dichotomy is being implied by this statement, claiming that if you don't prioritize money, you will be left penniless and ruined. That simply isn't true. There are a wide range of conditions between wealth and poverty and studies like th…
I think studies have shown that past a relatively low (by SV standards) level of income ($75kish I think) the relationship between money and happiness breaks down. The argument can definitely be made that the happiness difference between "comfortable and independent" and "Zuckerberg" is not all that great.
> I think studies have shown that past a relatively low (by SV standards) level of income ($75kish I think) the relationship between money and happiness breaks down.
This is true. But while that is low by SV standards, the $75k threshold from the study is targeted to "median america" cost of living.
If you adjust for cost of living and for purchasing power over the 6 years since the study was conducted, you end up with quite a bit more for areas like San Francisco. In fact, you'd probably be looking at more like 175-185k. [1]
1. http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/commentaries/Happi...
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#77I searched for the phrase "diminishing marginal returns" but could not find it in the article which seems like a bit of an omission. This is a fundamental economic concept - the more of something you have, the less value you derive from each incremental unit. So, based on personal preferences, once you reach a certain level of income you will start to substitute away from labor (income) towards leisure/free time (non…
>"diminishing marginal returns" I came to a different conclusion. The wealth of time (total man-hours or aggregated lifespans) is more evenly distributed across a population than is the wealth of money. Therefore, to the extent that happiness is influenced by comparing how well-off you are vs others, a person picked at random will be pretty damn close to the same standing as whoever is the Time-Richest Person in the…
A wealthy person is much more likely to be time-rich than a poor person, though.
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
... but it should be noted that there's a leveling-off as well. Once you're basically living comfortably and have the requisite free time, more money alone doesn't actually make you any happier. (Too tired to look up the research references, but I'm pretty sure there are some pretty solid findings out there on e.g. lottery winners, wealthy people, etc.)
You have to distinguish between happiness as emotional well-being (i.e., do you have more happy or sad moments on an average day), vs happiness as life satisfaction (i.e., how happy are you with how your life is going in general). There's some evidence that the former measure plateaus at some income level, but there's also significant evidence that the latter doesn't: http://www.pnas.org/content/107/38/16489.full
That's very intriguing, thanks!
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
A founder who doesn't take vacations or spend time with their family will most likely go crazy and fail.
I am someone who really doesn’t like vacations. I don’t like travel, I don’t like hotels, and I don’t like eating in restaurants all the time. What I do like is living for an extended period of time in a new location where I can really get a feel for the place (months not days). I go years without a vacation then move somewhere for 6 months or longer.
Vacation doesn't have to mean travel. It can just mean taking time off to relax, read, play, pursue hobbies, and spend time with your family and friends.
All that stuff that most of us would be doing if we didn't have to work for a living.
Re: Valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness
#80I searched for the phrase "diminishing marginal returns" but could not find it in the article which seems like a bit of an omission. This is a fundamental economic concept - the more of something you have, the less value you derive from each incremental unit. So, based on personal preferences, once you reach a certain level of income you will start to substitute away from labor (income) towards leisure/free time (non…
That's why I refuse to do a single minute of overtime even if it is paid. I've told employers to fire me if they feel like I should be staying longer and none of them have yet. If I ever need to make up time or do extra work, it's usually because of mismanagement and crappy deadlines as 8 hours of solid work a day is a lot, nothing should be "late".
Free time is absolutely the most valuable currency. If you can practice an instigative hobby and augment that hobby with the good money you make, then you've got it made. I have a bloody ton of hobbies and I can't wait to get out of work to work on my own stuff.
Seeing my days/life in two parts as stability (day job) being fuel for my hobby has helped me deal with my identity crisis when I got completely turned off from coding. It was also my hobby so I was always coding, but once I lost that I didn't know what to do and I hated my job. Once I saw it as fuel, no matter what day job I have, is now in context of a hobby.