As an Entrepreneur, your time is one of your most valuable assets. At the end of the day, we all have the same 24 hours in the day and how we choose to use it is our choice. However the reality is sometimes we don’t have a choice as life isn’t as simple, and if you work remotely and typically if you are a female, household chores can be one of the biggest time sucks!
House chores can be a hidden drain on your productivity and mental energy. Understanding the hidden costs of these tasks is crucial for managing your time effectively and ensuring your business thrives. A few months ago I started to time track all aspects of my life to see where I was not being effective with my use of time as I seemed to be drowning in never-ending to do lists.
Calculating the True Cost of House Chores
To truly understand the impact of house chores on your business, it’s important to calculate their hidden costs. These costs include the opportunity cost of time spent, the impact on business revenue, and the personal time valuation. I am not for a second saying you should outsource everything to have more time on your business only, but if you outsource some HAU (house as usual) tasks, then you have the choice of more time for personal or business.
Opportunity Cost of Time Spent
For the purpose of this exercise, I am going to use rounded numbers to keep it as simple as possible. Obviously update this accordingly for your business.
Direct Compensation Per Day: £800
The entrepreneur’s salary/ day rate or draw from the business
Hourly Rate: £100
Day rate / Industry-standard day of 8 hours
Product/ Service you sell for your business = £500
Direct Revenue-Generating Hours = 50%
Average Opportunity Cost per Hour: £50
| Activity | Estimated time | Do It Yourself |
|---|---|---|
|
Clothes washes including hanging up to dry |
2 hours |
£200 |
|
Getting Groceries and Cooking Food for You and Your Partner: |
2.5 hours |
£250 |
|
Light Clean of Your Apartment and Washing Up |
3 hours |
£300 |
|
TOTAL |
7.5 hours |
£750 |
So what household chores can I outsource
If you hire someone, lets say on average, for £15 per hour and they take the same amount of time (6 hours), it would cost you £90, which is significantly lower than your opportunity and actual costs.
Direct debits – Sounds so simple but it saves lives hahaha. Well, saves your credit score and your mental health of having to remember to pay anything at the risk of being cut off.
Cleaner – I am quite particular about cleaning, and I am a firm believer that a clean space makes for a clear mind. Timing wise though, I don’t have the capacity to do a deep clean as much as I want in our living spaces so we do a light clearaway before bed every night but then we have a cleaner come bi-week to do a deep clean.
Laundry service – I’ve signed up to a laundry service, there is subscription options or just ad hoc. They come and collect my laundry on a Thursday morning, and by Friday 10 am I have the laundry back; washed, dried and folded.
Groceries delivery – One said day, for us, it’s typically a Sunday, we do a round-up of everything we need whether a fresh food/ cupboard staples or nice treats
Meal prep – This sound boojey but it isn’t. We’ve engaged with a girl who had mentioned on a Facebook community that she liked cooking and wanted some extra hours
Why is time management important for entrepreneurs
Exaclty how you should be reviewing your business efficiencies to see where you can delegate to others to free up your time, us the same mindset for your home life as well. One of the most effective ways to reclaim your time and enhance your productivity is by outsourcing house chores. The benefits of outsourcing these tasks are manifold, allowing you to focus on what truly matters – growing your business.
Just as I am an expert in my field, there are professionals who excel in household management and chores. Hiring skilled help for cleaning, laundry, meal prep, and groceries ensures that these tasks are completed to a high standard, often more efficiently than I could do myself. This not only ensures a well-maintained home but also frees me from the stress of managing these tasks. By outsourcing, I am also providing employment opportunities to others. This can be empowering for those who take pride in their work in household management and can help support their families. It’s a win-win situation where my needs are met while contributing positively to someone else’s livelihood. Exactly how I would approach this thought in my own business.
Time Savings: By delegating tasks such as cleaning, laundry, and meal prep, you free up significant amounts of time each week. This reclaimed time can be used for strategic business planning, client meetings, or simply to recharge and prevent burnout.
Enhanced Productivity: With fewer household responsibilities to manage, you can concentrate better on your work. This focused time can lead to higher quality output and more innovative ideas, driving your business forward.
Reduced Stress: Knowing that household chores are taken care of can alleviate a considerable amount of stress. This reduction in stress can improve your mental clarity and emotional well-being, making you more effective in your professional role.
Work-Life Balance
If you have a life partner, you may think it’s an easy solution to decide who earns less and therefore who should rather be doing the house chores but I ask you this why is one of your time of less value, you could take the extra time gained to spend together – Go watch a movie, go for a walk together, have a date night or even just take a nap!