The following article is a guest blog written by Jeff Durant of Otium Partners a financial consultancy and lifestyle management business

Time, the one thing we cannot create more of.

Every day in my business I meet and work with people who with busy lives, businesses and professions who simply do not have the time to organise their affairs; be that financial matters or day to day lifestyle needs.

Increasingly, people are looking to outsource elements of their lives to third parties to free up more time. Cleaners, gardeners, car washers, dog-walkers etc are increasingly being employed by many people – something that historically would only be for the privileged and wealthy few.

Time Famine

Rising incomes in many countries has led to a new phenomenon across the world called “time famine”. People are reporting how they get stressed over the daily demands on their time.

Indeed, recent research from the University of British Columbia found that people who spend money to buy themselves more free time are happier, they have higher life satisfaction. The researchers found that fewer than a third of individuals spent money to buy themselves time each month, but those who did reported greater life satisfaction than the others.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found time saving when compared with material purchases increased happiness by reducing feelings of time stress.

How Otium help

Of course, it’s not just household tasks that take up time and create stress, which could easily be freed up. At Otium Partners we work with clients across all aspects of their lives where they don’t have the time to sort. Working with their lawyers, tax advisors, financial planners and banks to ensure their financial plans and dreams are not only sorted but provide the best value long term.

I recently came across the following modern parable which neatly encapsulates the value of time;

To realise the value of one year,
ask a student who has failed their final exam.

To realise the value of one month,
ask the parent of a premature baby.

To realise the value of one week,
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realise the value of one day,
ask a zero-hours contract worker who has a large family to feed.

To realise the value of one hour,
ask lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realise the value of one minute,
ask a person who has missed the train, the bus, or a plane.

To realise the value of one second,
ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realise the value of one millisecond,
ask the person who has won a silver medal at the Olympics.

So, have a think… is the lack of time an issue for you? Is it causing you stress? Could you be putting your time to more productive and satisfactory use?

There are people out there who might be able to help you.