Time & Money

Ben Franklin penned the phrase "time is money" back in the 18th century. Three hundred years later, we take it for granted. But the idea that time is money has had a massive impact on the way we work and earn our livelihoods today. Time & Money is an 8-part limited series designed to help you question your assumptions about time, money, and their intersection. What is money? How much is our time work? How do we measure quality time? And what metrics really matter when it comes to how we understand our time and our money? Time & Money is a special presentation of What Works, hosted by Tara McMullin, and YellowHouse.Media. You'll hear from experts like Paco de Leon, founder of Hell Yeah Bookkeeping, money coach Keina Newell, business operations specialist Elisabeth Jackson, and American in Paris Anne Ditmeyer. We'll dive into the history of work, consult philosophy, explore social and political theory, and ask: is time really money?

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Episodes

Why do we choose squeezing more in instead taking time off?

In the final episode of Time & Money: why we choose to squeeze more in over taking time off. I share how The Squeeze works, why work gets more intense over time, and some of the economic incentives that keep us from making different choices. Resources: “ Feeling The Squeeze? Why Your Business Feels So Tight ” by Tara McMullin “ Busy vs Squeezed: How To Tell The Difference & Why It Matters ” by Tara McMullin “ Economic Possibilities For Our Grandchildren ” by John Maynard Keynes Capitalis...

May 02, 2022•29 min•Ep. 8

How much time should you work? with Anne Ditmeyer

A lot of the work we do today doesn’t much look like “work.” The divide between work-life and life-life is flexible and porous. So what does that mean for the way we spend our time? Or how we earn a living? In this episode, I share designer, coach, and consultant Anne Ditmeyer’s story of rethinking how she works thanks to a big move to Paris. And, I argue that perhaps we need a radically different way of thinking about what work is—instead of a better “work-life balance.” Resources: Learn more a...

May 02, 2022•26 min•Ep. 7

What rules are you playing by?

The systems we operate in all have different incentive systems: our business models, the social media platforms, our economy, the culture at large… And many of these incentive systems have become simplified and gamified—changing the way we view the results of our work and the goals that we hold. In this episode, I explore how the philosophy of games can help us identify when we’re just trying to “game the system” instead of taking effective action based on our own values and goals. Resources: C....

May 02, 2022•32 min•Ep. 6

What is our time worth? with Keina Newell

Most of us learn the value of our time in our first jobs. Even as we get more experience and our hourly jobs turn into salaried jobs or freelance projects, the specter of selling your time for a particular wage looms. In this episode, I talk with Wealth Over Now founder & Money Files host Keina Newell about how she thinks about the intersection of time and money. I also offer up a light history of wage work and how that history influences business owners. Resources: Wealth Over Now — Keina N...

May 02, 2022•31 min•Ep. 5

What is financialization?

I’ve been talking about the “new economy” since about 2010. But more and more, I recognize that the economic possibilities created through the internet aren’t nearly as new or innovative as I’d first thought (and hoped). It seems that the old economy is just making itself over as the not-so-new economy. In this episode, I explore 3 processes of the old economy—speculation, financialization, and liquidation—to pinpoint how they’re showing up in our digital world of independent work. I weave toget...

May 02, 2022•35 min•Ep. 4

How do you measure quality time? with Elisabeth Jackson

There’s more than one way to measure success—and there’s more than one way to measure time. How do you account for the time you spend working? And is it really the most effective— for you —to spend it? In other words, what constitutes quality time when it comes to the way you work? I talked with business operations coach Elisabeth Jackson about how she changed her overwork habit, how she measures quality time for herself & her clients, and why she doesn’t love the word “productivity.” Resour...

May 02, 2022•28 min•Ep. 3

What is the egg beater effect?

We spend money on lots of tools designed to save us time and work. But all too often, those tools just end up raising our expectations. Why do work in less time when you could do more work in the same amount of time?! In this episode, I examine “the egg beater effect” and why we should, just maybe, lower our expectations a bit. Resources: You’re Wrong About: The Stepford Wives More Work For Mother by Ruth Schwartz Cowan Episode 371: What is the creator economy? with Gina Bianchini Episode 364: T...

May 02, 2022•25 min•Ep. 2

What is money? with Paco de Leon

“Time is money.” Ben Franklin gave us that chestnut in 1748—and ever since, we’ve been trained to think of our lives as opportunities for making a buck. This week, we start a series exploring the “time is money” construction. But before we think through how we spend our time, we’re going to think through money: what it really is, how we relate to it, and some of the factors that make it “weird.” I talk with Paco de Leon from the Hell Yeah Group and the author of the brand-new book, Finance For T...

May 02, 2022•33 min•Ep. 1

Welcome to Time & Money: A What Works Special Series

“Time is money.” It’s a phrase we take for granted in the 21st century. Every hour of the day is a potentially monetizable unit. It’s another client you can serve, another social media post you can create, another trip you can drive, invoice you can send, or errand you can run. Ben Franklin penned the phrase “time is money” back in the 18th century. It’s a sort of semiotic turning point from the piety of vocation—the heart of the Protestant work ethic—to the pragmatic striving of industrialized ...

May 02, 2022•3 min

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