Too little time
When you’re broke, you’ll learn that time too is a scarce and invaluable commodity. Perhaps you’ve had a manager repeat that old, tired doctrine, “time is money”. I’m unsure how many of them know how right they are. The phrase is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin for his letter, Advice to a young tradesman, written by an old one. In it, Franklin describes the lost value of time away from one’s work. For instance, if you take a week’s leave and in that time spend £150, this should not be considered your only loss; you should consider too the loss of what you could have earned.
It’s a simplistic and aged view of the duality of time and money, with the focus chiefly on the latter. On the subject of time, more recent knowledge suggests that time away from work actually boosts productivity. It seems, though, that the majority of employers still hold to Franklin’s aged philosophy. Work people harder and longer and they’ll produce more, no? If only it were that simple.
It would be favourable to employers were such a model the case. Work people harder, longer, pay them less, and you’ll ensure yourself the best possible profit margins. It’s the quick, easy way to boost revenue! But it’s far from the best. In actuality, employees work harder when they’re given regular breaks and — with some caveats — when they’re paid better for their work. A happy employee is a more communicative, more reciprocative, more productive employee. They’ll give so much more of themselves given time to escape from their desk and actually be themselves.
I don’t hate the work I currently do, cleaning; the management may be poor, but I manage my own time on the job pretty effectively. A short, appropriately timed break relaxes my muscles momentarily, as well as my mind and I can tackle the second half of my duties refreshed, re-motivated and with new ideas. It doesn’t sound like a job wanting much in the way of creativity, but I’ve had ideas nonetheless — how I’d manage the contract were I in charge, an alternative business model, the branding I’d use to characterise that service — and it’s good stuff (though I do say so myself).
A little employee freedom, their sense of autonomy, an adequate break from routine, and appropriate pay; these can have greater positive repercussions for a business than Franklin’s philosophy. They foster thought and commitment, which can be so much more valuable than sapping a person for all of the time they’ve got.
Remember that money can buy a person a washing machine and tumble dryer, so that they might have more time away from laundry; remember that money can buy a person a dishwasher, so that they might have more time away from the kitchen sink. Time isn’t just for sale, it’s purchasable through goods and luxuries.
Since moving back to Carlisle, I haven’t felt like I’ve much time. I’ll bemoan the lack of a tumble dryer and dishwasher, though I’ve lived elsewhere without both. What’s different now is a lack of money, and I’m surrounded by people in the same situation. See, had I the money, drying clothes wouldn’t be so bad; we could afford to run the heating in this place, and while it wouldn’t be quite as fast as a quick spin in the dryer it would be a heck of a lot more convenient than sitting it out in the cold for up to a week — that can’t be hygienic either. Had I the money, that same heating could provide a comfortable climate to work and do household chores in. Having lived this way for a while now, and managing to just scrape by, I don’t know how we’d do any better. Had I the money, we’d live somewhere a little larger where I could have my own office space and not feel like my girlfriend and I are treading on one another’s toes quite so frequently. Had I the money, time would be something I could afford. So more than the lack of the luxuries themselves, I’ll bemoan the lack of money. I’ve been undervalued too frequently by others, undervalued myself once or twice too, trusted too heavily in a certain few people; I’ve made my bed, now I have to find a way up out of it and to get back on track.
Franklin was right, but his words have been interpreted as a means to exploit people. There are employers who feel that employee time is their money; it’s what they’re paying for. I feel otherwise. Productivity is what we’re purchasing, not time; that is and always will belong to our employees. The employer simply borrows that time as a means to the purchase of productivity. If productivity is higher given more time off, if it’s higher given better pay, then these are the doctrines we should adjust to. Our employees are collaborators in our companies, not drones whose time we rent. Time is money, but it’s worth more than a lot of us sell it for.
