Let's face it. You've got 24 hours each day to divide between work and
your personal interests.
This can be a problem for farmers whose workplace is their home,
especially since what they do for a living is often what they do for
entertainment as well.
Let's say right now I can make $75,000 annually working eight hours per
day. However, if I work 10 hours per day and use every ounce of
technology and resources, I can squeeze out another 15%, or $86,250
annually.
Is it worth it? That's another 520 hours per year, or 13 weeks of work,
to earn another $11,250 annually. So is it worth my time? And more
importantly, what should I be doing with my time?
Thirteen weeks of free time in this case is worth $11,250. That's two
weeks of bow hunting, two weeks of turkey hunting, two weeks of fishing,
two weeks of vacationing, two weeks of napping and three weeks of
honey-dos that make the other 49 weeks more bearable.
Or you could just say 13 weeks with your family. Thirteen weeks of doing
what I want to do sounds like $11,250 worth of value to me. That's
$11,250 that we don't need. If we did make the effort to optimize
production, we would just spend the extra money on a well-deserved
vacation or on a new truck after wearing the old one and ourselves out
putting in the additional work.
If you look at it from merely a business perspective, it is probably a
poor decision. But if you value your time and consider farming to still
be a lifestyle, it can make for a convincing argument.
I can work 2,080 hours for $75,000, or $36.06 per hour. Or I can work
2,600 hours for $86,250, or $33.17 per hour. The first hours we work
doing the things that have to be done should be returning to us the most
dollars per hour.
In fact, I would say we would be better to diversify and try to find
other creative ways to generate revenues if we just want to work more
hours or take advantage of new technologies on the market to earn more
money. I would rather make $36 an hour by being 80% efficient in two
businesses than make $33 an hour being 90% efficient in one.
Time is truly money and needs to be factored into your business
decisions. Time is also happiness when it's spent doing the more
important things in life. Find your balance, and always put a high value
on your time.