Time is money?
March 2, 2012
Moms who are pursuing a college degree while raising a family most likely feel that their time is valuable. After all, this busy period in their lives often leaves them little or no free time.
But student parents aren't the only ones who feel a time crunch in their daily lives. Many people tend to view their time as a precious commodity, especially those who have little of it.
This is especially true for individuals who get paid on an hourly basis. Time stuck in traffic, waiting on hold on the phone or waiting in a reception area for a doctor who's running late actually make some people feel like they're wasting their time and money.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 72.6 million American workers age 16 and older were paid at hourly rates in 2009, representing 58.3 percent of all wage and salary workers.
New research conducted at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management reveals that this "time is money" attitude that many people have can have a negative effect on happiness.
For the study, researchers primed subjects through survey questions to think about their time in terms of money. This resulted in participants showing greater impatience and lower satisfaction during leisure activities introduced during the experiments. However, when they were paid for an activity, such as listening to music, they reported more enjoyment and less impatience.
The results demonstrate that thinking about time in terms of money "changes the way you actually experience time," said the study's co-author, Sanford DeVoe.
"The advice that comes out of [this study] is that you want to be aware that putting a price on time can have these effects," DeVoe told MSNBC. "It can help you make good decision about your time at work, but when you're thinking about when you're off the clock it's going to get in the way of you being able to full enjoy your leisure time."
The same effect may be felt by those who are struggling to pay for a college education. Some may not be able to fully enjoy their time in school because they are constantly thinking about how much it is costing them.
Luckily, getting a college degree is expected to pay off. The BLS reports that, in 2010, individuals with a bachelor's degree made an average of $1,038 per week, compared to $767 per week for those with an associate degree, $712 per week for those with some college (but no degree) and $626 per week for those with a high school diploma.
Paying for college with the help of grants for parents, scholarships for mothers and single mother scholarships may also relieve some of the financial stress of pursuing a degree.
