Who wants more free time to do whatever the heck they want?

The answer is pretty much EVERYONE…because folks are pretty overworked these days. And today you’re going to learn exactly how much your free time is actually worth.

The traditional way to come up with the figure for how much your free time is worth is to divide how much you make in a year by how many hours it took you to earn that dough.

But a writer named James Clear said back in 2015 that you should also add all the hours you spend pursuing making that money, like your time in a car commuting to and from work, dropping off kids at daycare, etc., and use that figure instead.

And once you get the number of how much you’re ACTUALLY paid per hour using Clear’s method, you can keep it in mind when you are looking for a new job. For example, if you’re considering a job with a long commute time, it might not be worth it when you use this method.

Now, on to how this helps you calculate how much your free time is worth. That number is ultimately something that you need to make a judgment call about, as opposed to a specific calculation.

It’s suggested that you use a surge pricing model: in other words, that you’ll pay a higher price for something that’s in high demand. And since the item that’s in high demand in this case is your free time, you have to determine the potential gain balanced against that.

Here’s how it works:

Divide your income by the total number of hours it took you to earn that money like we discussed earlier (commutes, daycare, etc., included) and this is your regular job price.

Your free time hours price is how much you COULD make if you wanted to work during your free time (if you have a side job, freelance work, etc. This number is probably different from your regular job).

And the remaining hours of free time you have has whatever price you care to put on it. Think of it as how much it would take you to work during your free time and not be able to pursue your hobbies and hang out with family and friends. Aim high if you want to!

There are a lot of factors that go into determining how much your free time is worth: your regular job, side hustles, kids, family obligations, etc.

So it’s up to you to decide how much that surge pricing is worth, because it’s all about your and what you’re willing to deal with in life.

Keep all of this in mind when you’re thinking about your job AND your free time. It might just help you make some better decisions!