Is Time is the New Virtual Currency?

Leading up to the pandemic in 2020, things were generally okay in this country – for most people. The economy was hot, unemployment was low, and the stock market was on fire. We were all feeling bulletproof. Then the pandemic hit and everything changed in an instant.

The change created an opportunity to pause. To take a fresh look at how we use, invest and waste our time.

Overnight, business travel ceased to exist and meetings transitioned to Zoom during Covid. School transitioned to remote learning and all after-school activities stopped. It was a tough transition. Everything stopped and we all felt dizzy and lost. Then a funny thing happened. People started to breathe. Working remotely became efficient. And, the old way of doing life seemed antiquated. So much wasted time.

See, for many years the most important thing was to be rich. It’s the American Dream. Not for the money, but for the autonomy and flexibility that being rich brings.

In our zeal to be rich, we are overworked, over stressed, overextended and overmedicated. Otherwise how do you reconcile that:

• Almost 25 million American adults have been taking antidepressants for at least two years, a 60% increase since 2010? 

• More than 31 million Americans have Type II diabetes (about 1 in 10). 

• Heart Disease is the leading killer of Americans.

Diabetes and heart disease can kill you early, but if they don’t you’ll likely live to be 78 years old. That’s the equivalent of 683,748 hours of life. After sleeping, you only have a little over 400,000 hours left to live.

So, let’s do some math.

If you make $75,000 per year, that new house isn’t $750,000, it’s 40,000 hours of hard work- after you factor in the interest on the mortgage. That new truck isn’t $65,000, it’s 3,600 hours of labor after interest. But, with that kind of time commitment how much time do you have left to enjoy the new home and truck? Not much.

It’s true that during the pandemic people bought new homes faster than Taylor Swift can sell an overpriced concert ticket. But, with more remote work, people finally had the flexibility to work from any location. So they moved elsewhere.

Studies show 45% of employees migrated to remote or hybrid working arrangements. Remote work saved 60 million hours a day by cutting employee commute time.

And, it was financially rewarding. Working from home was the driving force behind some 60% of the pandemic house price surge, according to a new FED study claims.

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The flexibility and autonomy of remote work created a greater appreciation for time. A greater appreciation for freedom, for family, for friendship and for a higher quality of life. Suddenly people had the autonomy and flexibility they craved. Things once reserved for Robin Leach and the “champagne wishes and caviar dreams” crowd. As if we, all at once, tasted freedom. And, the people cheered.

We started to figure out that life is way too short to trade time for things we don’t need that impress people we don’t even like.

“The currency of life is not money but time and love.”

This isn’t a new concept. Henry David Thoreau warned us not to spend “the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it.”

And, we all remember Steve Jobs. In his deathbed manifesto he made it crystal clear. “At this moment, lying on the bed, sick and remembering all my life, I realize that all my recognition and wealth that I have is meaningless in the face of imminent death,” it goes on to say. “You can hire someone to drive a car for you, make money for you — but you can not rent someone to carry the disease for you. One can find material things, but there is one thing that can not be found when it is lost — life.

There are signs that this greater appreciation for our time isn’t waning. Americans are storming across the Atlantic to Europe like it’s VE Day 2.0. United Air Lines reported a 40% increase in European travel verses 2019.

The number of golf rounds played in 2021 was 18% higher than in 2017-2019. Lastly, 49% of all churches are growing right now.

One quick favor, if you enjoy my writing would you forward this to a few people you care about? The only criteria is to make sure they can read or listen… I’d be grateful for any help in promoting my writing. Thank you so much for reading.

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