The Contrarian. Chapter 10
Time is Money
I decided to create a section called THE CONTRARIAN a place where unconventional insights confront conventional wisdom.
I reflect on popular phrases and challenge the universal wisdom they claim, because even if there are relative truths to be found in them, I don’t believe in their axiomatic value.
Being a contrarian is not to oppose, but to avoid conformism. It means to challenge assumptions, reason by first principles, redefine what’s possible… It’s about independent thinking to build arguments from the ground up.
"Lost time is never found again."
Benjamin Franklin
Rethinking "Time is Money"
No amount of coins can buy back a single hour of your life
The Contrarian is back to fight a common business mantra, “time is money,” a phrase coined by Benjamin Franklin to instill respect for productivity under a simple idea: wasted minutes mean wasted dollars.
I understand the idea, of course, but is time really equal to money? My alter ego could no longer remain silent… Time is irretrievable once spent
Time is Life, Not a Commodity
Equating time strictly with money is a philosophical flaw that misses the bigger picture of human life. Money is a human construct and a renewable resource but time is an irreplaceable currency of life itself. When we treat time as a unit of profit, we risk devaluing our experiences, relationships, and well-being… life itself!
If time is life, and time is money, is life a balance sheet then?
Time is money ignores the qualitative value of time. How do we measure the value of an hour spent comforting a friend, enjoying a sunset? Are those times wasted? How do we measure the need to have a conversation with a fellow human that has no transactional value?
You may have never thought the following way, but every minute that passes by, you are trading time for something else, you are trading life for something else, and if that is just money, maybe stepping back to ask “What life am I exchanging for this?” can yield wiser choices than the question “What money will this make?”
The Hidden Costs of Treating Time as Money
Beyond philosophical considerations, viewing time as an exchange unit for money, carries practical risks too. In the drive to squeeze productivity (and profit) out of every moment, one may inadvertently incur heavy costs elsewhere. Consider some of the hidden downsides:
Burnout and Health Costs: An obsessive focus on work-time as money often leads to overwork. In the short term, it might seem profitable to sacrifice sleep or personal time for work, but the long-term consequences can be devastating. Those that routinely trade sleep, personal time, or family dinners for more work end up depleted. Chronic stress and burnout not only harm personal physical and mental health, but can also affect sustainable productivity and decision-making.
Strained Relationships: Treating time only as a commodity can strain the relationships that are crucial for both personal happiness and business success. High-performing executives may find themselves absent from family milestones or disconnected in personal relationships, effectively trading away life for work. Leaders who treat colleagues’ or employees’ time as just a line on a timesheet may also erode loyalty and trust. People are not simply economic units; they thrive when their humanity is respected.
Lost Fulfillment and Purpose: There’s a reason we hear that no one on their deathbed wishes they had spent more time in the office. Pursuing goals that align with one’s values and passions, even if they don’t maximize income every minute, leads to a more fulfilled life and often more inspired leadership. Studies have shown that prioritizing time over money is strongly associated with greater happiness and well-being (link to article) Social Psychological and Personality Science 2016.
Rejecting Hustle Culture
We live in an era dominated by hustle culture, where social media relentlessly promotes the ideal of 24/7 availability. Vacations blur into workdays, weekends become indistinguishable from weekdays, and even the term "work-life balance" is being challenged as outdated, presented as a wrong way to look at things, a dichotomy that should not exist... Today, we speak instead of life-work harmony, or life as a portfolio, suggesting that life and work should seamlessly merge, even worse, it’s work what defines our lives entirely, setting brief intervals aside for family, rest or any other pursue. You should feel happy and realized that way. We live in a world where burnout seems to have emerged as a badge of honor. However The Contrarian sees this all for what it truly is, a critical liability, harmful not only to individuals mental health, but over time corrosive to the fabric of society itself.
Don’t get me wrong, The Contrarian understands well that significant achievements require relentless dedication and intense effort, that undeniably there are moments in life that demand absolute focus, very long hours, and immense personal sacrifice, that the work ethics of a builder isn't confined to a neat 9-to-5 routine always; it's a disciplined commitment to excellence no matter what, that fundamentally shapes character, that requires stretch and growth. This much is clear, unquestioned. You will not build a legacy or transform industries from the comfort of your coach. Velocity penetrates the impossible!
However, The Contrarian challenges the increasingly widespread belief that this relentless, all-consuming narrative, appropriate perhaps for those driven to launch startups, those in the highest positions of leadership or large enterprises, or those guided to pursue deeply personal passions; should be universally adopted as the measure of a meaningful life. Life is being taken away from individuals and families idolizing wrong role models of work should be. The problem isn't merely one of personal preference; it's deeper, systemic, and profoundly cultural, affecting the roots of healthy civilizations. It will bring problems
To put it bluntly, if someone like Elon Musk sleeps 3 hours in a factory floor, runs 10 companies and has no family stability… no judgement, but that’s the anomaly, not the norm. That works very well for some, that may be needed in a period of time, but it should not be the aspiration for all.
The Contrarian makes the case that we increasingly live in societies shaped by highly transactional mindsets, unable to appreciate moments of stillness or quiet contemplation, or even worse, considering any of those as a waste of time. People struggle the beauty and simplicity of doing nothing, of savoring a poem, of leisurely walking without aim, or to genuinely help one another without measures of productivity or return on effort in mind. This is not preference, this is mental health.
This pervasive rush, this relentless urgency, prompts vital questions:
what precious, intangible qualities of life are we sacrificing in our relentless pursuit of speed and efficiency in all we do? (individual and family)
what aspects of society are being badly shaped for future digital / AI native generations under a mantra of “speed” (collective lack of emotional intelligence, impatience, do or die)
A mind refreshed by quality personal time produces superior work. Value creation requires a well-rested mind, a deep sense of purpose benefits from a meaningful life outside of work. There is wisdom in knowing how to use time, not just in considering well spent or wasted.
A healthy society requires a deep sense of human empathy, time to connect among humans, and the capacity to listen to one another. I believe that many of the current problems in society are rooted in issues related to how we consider the use of time. People are more “connected” than ever, however lack of social skills and ability to build personal relationships are (and will continue to be) real problems.
"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."
Henry David Thoreau
A Wake-Up Call from Real Life
Sometimes it takes a dramatic wake-up call to realize that time is infinitely more valuable than money. For media entrepreneur Arianna Huffington, that wake-up call literally came in the form of a collapse. In 2007, at the height of building the Huffington Post, she woke up on the floor of her home office in a pool of blood, she had fainted from exhaustion and broken her cheekbone on her way down. Outwardly, she was the picture of success; inwardly, she was completely burned out by the relentless pace of her work. “It was a day that changed my life,” Huffington later said that she realized she had been trading away her health and happiness for success, and that this was too high a price to pay.
Arianna Huffington’s recovery became a transformation where she began to prioritize sleep, wellbeing, and time with family; left the company she co-founded to start a new venture and aimed at ending the burnout culture by teaching others the lesson she learned the hard way.
Erin Callan, once a Wall Street star, recounted with regret how devoting all her time to work left her with a broken marriage and a sense of emptiness. Only after stepping back did she grasp that it “didn’t have to be this way.”
“The currency of life isn’t money. It’s not even time. It’s attention”
Naval Ravikant
When you guard time not just for work, but for rest, family, and reflection, you ultimately enhance both your effectiveness and your joy.
Time is the ultimate luxury and the ultimate necessity!
Leading with Time in Mind
Challenging the mantra “time is money” is not about rejecting what it takes to build great things, downplaying productivity or promoting laziness, it’s about aligning our use of time with a varied set of priorities to create a fulfilled life.
As you reflect on your own leadership journey, ask yourself: Are you spending wisely your time, or are you only treating it as an investment?
Time is not money, it’s something far more scarce and immensely more valuable!
Time is life itself
P.S. Before I go, here you have “The Treat,” where I share some of the music that kept me company while writing … Enjoy as you bid farewell to this post
“Lead yourself, Learn to live. Lead others, Learn to Build.”
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