random wrote:What I am trying to say here is that sure, if you are in the middle of the rat race then yes, "time is money". But are you going to live in the middle of the rat race until the day you croak off still chasing the holy dollar? I'm not, to me time is NOT money, time is LIFE; if I choose (and it is a choice) to spend parts of my LIFE making pipes, I will not be hurried through the activity by some tightassed bill collector.
Well, I *am* under 40, but I have no desire for the high life. I never had. All I've ever wanted is a roof that doesn't leak, a car that runs, and children that behave themselves.
Well, that and bosses that don't have pointy hair.
Unfortunately, I don't own any land outright, and my cars have payments (albeit quite small), and I do have children that I'm responsible for as well. So, to me, time *is* money. I have no delusions of getting rich making pipes. I only want enough to satisfy the needs (and I do mean _needs_) of the family, plus some left over for toys or play. The faster I can make quality pieces, the faster I can meet those needs.
I am in an odd position here, I know. I have no debt outside two cars and rent. For a 33-yr old person that's worked in IT for 15 years, that's incredibly unusual. You're in an even odder position still - but I daresay that neither of us fits the norm of modern society with regard to modern ideas of "better living through higher debt".
However, if you're trying to run a business, you *must* pay attention to the time it takes you to make your product, otherwise your business will be unsustainable - even if it is only you, your wife, a makeshift workshop, and the screaming squirrels on the side of a mountain.
What I'm trying to say is, don't completely reject the notion of "time is money" because you got burned by extreme uses of it in the past. The fact is, some business ideas are sound - prior, of course, to having been twisted and perverted by the Suits and PHBs into something awful.