Buying Time

Time is the one thing we often need the most, and they say you can't buy it, a friend commented one day. But I've discovered that by bringing home prepared food, when I'm busy, I am buying time - the time it would take me to shop, cook and clean up. That is one way I actually "buy time." Now I don't feel guilty about not cooking when I'm busy. By bringing home pizza - or anything else - for supper, I'm buying time to spend with my family instead!

And emotional well-being, if cooking at the end of a long day stresses you out!

That comment changed the way I (then a working mother) viewed take-out food... and ended my sense of guilt whenever I chose to "buy time" by bringing home prepared food rather than to cook.

There were other ways I "bought time" in the busy years when I worked full-time and my kids were teenagers. At one point each one was assigned a night to prepare supper for the family. To add to the privilege of being able to choose what we would eat, they were also given the car and money to purchase whatever they needed. They were learning about meal preparation, and I was "buying time."

Recently, I heard a similar comment shared by a successful entrepreneur: In your business, go with your strengths and buy your weaknesses...

I have a very small book-selling business - but every year I spend one or two very long, stressful days calculating and re-calculating my business taxes. (I've discovered that one small error - like a number written on the wrong line - can take years to correct when dealing with government bureaucracy!) Maybe it's time to see a professional accountant, not only to buy time, but alleviate my annual tax-time stress!

And the little jobs I'd like to see done around the house - like painting the halls - which I can't bear to start, because I know house painting is always a bigger job than it looks! Well, maybe I need to think of bringing in a professional to do that as well!