There is no doubt that the United States is running out of time. Dinners with the family are a thing of the past. We compress leisure time into short bursts of stress-filled moments, rush from appointment to appointment, take work home, and cram leisure time into short bursts of stress-filled moments.
The question is: how did we end up in this situation? It’s surely not due to our inefficiency. Economists estimate that productivity has increased by 70% or more in the last 25 years. Overnight delivery, cell phones, fast meals, and instant texting are all available. Shouldn’t our ability to complete more work allow us to have more free time? What happens to all this “additional” time?
We spend too much time at work, according to Dr. Bill Quain, and not enough time doing the things we really want to do. Americans in the twenty-first century work longer hours than peasants in the Middle Ages, and as a result, they spend less time at home with their families. We’re always busy, but that doesn’t always equate to a higher quality of life. Our debt has increased, while our free time has decreased. We don’t even take use of the free time we’ve earned. Next year, more than a quarter of Americans will take no vacation days at all.
Dr. Bill Quain, a seasoned author, entrepreneur, university professor, and public speaker, has a remedy for the entire treadmill syndrome.
Dr. Quain, often known as “The Time Doctor,” claims to be the first to solve the time paradox. “Overcoming Time Poverty: How to Achieve More by Working Less,” his book, is inexpensive and quick to read. However, it offers a method for getting not only more free time but also more wealth while working less.
While many well-known authors and business professionals advise taking more time off to improve one’s quality of life, Dr. Quain believes this is a recipe for catastrophe.
“The majority of individuals exchange their time for money,” Quain argues. “You make less money if you labour less!” Your quality of life suffers as a result.” In his book, he outlines a five-step approach for generating more free time and the funds to enjoy it.
The process of overcoming time poverty, according to Quain, differs from that of overcoming financial poverty. People that are financially poor do not have money, but they do have time. “We all get the same amount of time — 24 hours a day.” “It’s not a lack of time that matters; it’s how we use that time,” Quain argues.
How about we do with our time? “Don’t just trade your time for a wage hour by hour,” he advises. “Invest part of your time in building equity, and then let the equity work for you.” Quain teaches readers how to create five types of wealth-and-time-generating equity in his book. People may now improve the value of each and every hour rather than working longer hours, providing them more options for how they spend their time.
According to Quain, most of us are simply playing the incorrect game. We work hard to get money, then labour even harder when we need more. We’ll have money soon, but no time.
It’s time to switch things up and play a new game: make more money in less time. Take a career you enjoy, but don’t put yourself on the “fast track” at work. Then, outside of work, use your time equity to combine the earnings of a CEO with the leisure time of a retiree.
And that sounds like a great way to deal with the time constraints of the twenty-first century.
