Lack of time is the only need that doesn't seem to hurt people.
(Ernst Reinhardt)

Exchange money for time or time for money

In 2013 I took a job about 400 km from my family for the first time. As senior consultant, I had a 4-day-week, so I was able to go home every Thursday afternoon.
In return I had friday a day off

So I exchanged time. A little bit for money, but very strong against distance from my family. But maybe (probably) I used it to charge my wife's time account. Since I have been dealing with Blockchain and Steemit. com, these considerations have come to my mind again. After all, this is also a question of currency and exchange transactions.

But in the end, however, it has had a positive effect (so far) on my time wellbeing. Or, to be more precise, for four years. Because at the moment I am - now a higher level of hierarchy - back in the 5 day week's schedule. Sure, I like to work. I'd love to. But the degrees of freedom are diminishing again.

On one of the return trips I heard an interview with Prof. Merz from the Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany

Multidimensional poverty: Poverty in time and temporal prosperity

It is about a multidimensional definition of poverty with the additional dimension of income and time. In Germany, 6.8 percent of the population falls below the poverty line. They belong to the "working poor" although they work 5 hours and more, but cannot earn enough money with it.

However, according to Merz and his colleagues, there is a new poverty zone that is defined by a lack of leisure time = free time.

So these are people who, although they have a sufficient income, have no time left for work, childcare or other duties such as caring for relatives. They live under constant time pressure or lack of time due to stress.

12.3 percent of Germans are in new time poverty

This is more than twice as much as the traditional definition of poverty, which now "only" takes into account the financial situation. This is not just about lack of time, time pressure and stress. It is an index that takes into account the available time and financial situation.

Is time money?

Financial pressure with an excessive disposition at the bank feels much like an excessive time account or lack of time. We often just don't see it that way. We are entering into a time debt, just as many people purchase material goods via a credit card that they cannot afford. Instead of time management, energy management would be important. Or a kind of stock exchange where we could exchange time / energy for money.

The quality of life or satisfaction is thus influenced in a similar way by a lack of time like a minus on the account.

Less time is not as easy to read as the red numbers in the checking account.

Timelessness: Who is affected

Academics are still better off than the rest. Thus, a higher education degree or studies in a certain way does, however, provide some protection. At least "only" 9.4 percent of academics will be affected by multidimensional poverty (taking into account time debt), compared to 12.6 percent of the "normal population". A lot more, too.

Prof. Merz in Lüneburg mainly conducts research on "freelance professions", i. e. self-employed people.
I think, however, that the results are in some way transferable to other professions.

Over 2/3 of the self-employed and freelancers are "time-poor".

This means that they have less than 60 percent of the leisure time that was determined in the survey of around 35,000 people with regard to their personal time budget in 2001 / 2002. Less free time, but usually too little income.

According to this definition of poverty, 29.4 percent of the self-employed are affected.

These can be retailers, innkeepers, doctors, lawyers or other freelancers. The working hours are much longer than the average working population. And we cannot compensate for this with money.

But you don't have to be an entrepreneur or retailer to fall below the new poverty line.

19.9 percent of single-parent families are affected by the multiple burden of income and time spent on childcare and upbringing by poverty of time according to this definition.

31.6 percent of families with 3 or 4 children suffer from symptoms of this time-poor definition of poverty.

But whether you can make up for a lack of time for playing with your children or having fun with your partner, or whether you can make up for it with money ?

Merry chrismas and spend more time with your family and take care !