Outsource Your Household

Could outsourcing your household make you $18,000 happier?

People often say you can’t put a price on your time, yet we often treat it as if it were limitless. We spend countless hours each week on household chores, errands, and other tasks that, while necessary, often detract from the things we truly value. While the idea of spending thousands of dollars a year outsourcing these tasks might seem extravagant, it can be a surprisingly wise investment in your happiness, health, and even your wealth. This isn't just about convenience; it's about carefully allocating what could be your most precious resource: your time.

What is Outsourcing?

Outsourcing is a term commonly used in the business world. It refers to hiring an external company or individual to perform tasks or services that might traditionally be handled internally. Businesses outsource to optimise resource allocation, focusing on core competencies and leaving specialised tasks to experts.

This same principle can be applied to our personal lives. Outsourcing household tasks means hiring help for cleaning, errands, landscaping, and other chores, to free your time and energy for more important things.

The Decision to Outsource Your Home Life

Deciding whether to outsource a household task involves a careful evaluation of several factors. These typically fall into three overlapping categories:

1. The Mathematical Approach: Sometimes, the decision to outsource is purely financial. Consider mowing the lawn. While it might seem cheaper to do it yourself, a closer look at the numbers can tell a different story. Factor in the initial cost of the mower, the ongoing expenses of fuel, oil, maintenance, and eventual replacement. Suddenly, the $25 a week a neighbourhood teenager charges starts to look like a bargain. Similarly, if you're a freelance worker earning $55 an hour, paying a cleaner $30 an hour for a couple of hours of cleaning a month makes perfect sense. You can use that freed-up time to earn even more. By calculating the true cost of doing it yourself, you can make informed decisions about which tasks are worth outsourcing.
2. The Value of Time: Beyond the raw numbers, consider the value of your time. If you're a busy professional, do you really want to spend your precious weekend scrubbing toilets when you could be traveling, spending time with loved ones, or simply relaxing? Time is a finite resource, and how you choose to spend it reflects your priorities. Outsourcing allows you to reclaim your weekends and evenings, investing them in activities that bring you joy and fulfilment. This is especially important for those with demanding careers or families, where time is already stretched thin.
3. The Combined Approach: Often, the decision to outsource is a combination of both financial and personal considerations. Perhaps you enjoy gardening but find it physically challenging. Outsourcing the heavy lifting, like mowing and weeding, allows you to focus on the parts you enjoy. Or maybe you're willing to pay a premium for grocery delivery because it saves you the hassle of navigating crowded stores and long checkout lines. The best outsourcing decisions are those that balance cost-effectiveness with the desire to maximise your time and well-being.

What Can You Outsource?

The possibilities for outsourcing are virtually endless. Think beyond the typical cleaning and gardening. Consider:

• Errands: Supermarket shopping, dry cleaning, post office runs.
• Pet Care: Dog walking, grooming, vet visits.
• Childcare: Babysitting, after-school care, transportation.
• Home Maintenance: Repairs, painting, plumbing.
• Personal Services: Cooking, laundry, bookkeeping.
• Specialised Tasks: Tutoring, tech support, event planning.

The Payoffs of Outsourcing: Happiness, Health, and Wealth

The benefits of outsourcing extend far beyond mere convenience. Research suggests that outsourcing household chores can actually increase happiness and even boost your wealth. A Harvard study highlighted by CNBC found a correlation between outsourcing tasks and increased happiness. By freeing up time and reducing stress, you create space for activities that contribute to your well-being. This increased happiness can lead to improved focus and productivity, not only in your personal life but also in your career.

Furthermore, outsourcing can indirectly contribute to increased wealth. By freeing up your time, you can focus on activities that generate income, such as taking on extra projects, networking, or investing in your professional development. You may also find that you're more productive and creative when you're not bogged down by household chores, leading to better performance and increased earning potential.

Beyond the financial benefits, outsourcing can also improve your health. Reduced stress and having more time for leisure activities can have a positive impact on both your physical and mental well-being. You'll have more time to exercise, pursue hobbies, and spend quality time with loved ones, all of which contribute to a healthier and more fulfilling life.

Without a clear incentive, though, it can be hard to make room for time-affluent activities when your day-to-day life is already busy. So to give a sense of how much happier certain activities can make you, on author in this field came up with a metric: happiness dollars.

Outsourcing Happiness Dollars

Happiness dollars give the monetary equivalent of how much happier a given activity can make you. Say you get a $10,000 raise, for example. That $10,000 raise will make you a certain amount happier, so that’s the happiness dollar value of the raise. There are other activities, though, that will make you just as happy. Their happiness dollar value is therefore $10,000, too.

• Outsourcing chores, for example, might be able to make you $18,000 happier, according to one source. Just remember to factor in any costs associated with the activity when calculating its happiness value. In a series of 2019 articles in the Harvard Business Review, Whillans and other researchers noted that spending as little as $40 on something that saves time (in their example, an hour of home cleaning), will make you happier than spending that money on “stuff” — especially if you use that purchased time to do something you enjoy. Say you hate grocery shopping. If you hire someone to do that for you, the researchers point out, that’s two hours a week less of doing something you don’t like, which equates to 104 hours (more than four days’ worth), of extra time per year to fill with activities that truly bring you joy.
• As mentioned earlier, it’s not just about saving money either, adding a daily dose of time with family and friends can boost happiness tremendously. It was even suggested spending time each day with friends and family produces an income increase that is equivalent to making over $100,000 more in annual household income, though this maximum would apply to someone who shifts from spending no time with friends and family to doing so every day. Even so, the researchers suggest that just boosting your socialisation to a few times a week can yield a happiness bump of up to $6,000 per year.

Of course, happiness dollars will differ according to different people and situations.

So, What Are You Going to Outsource?

The key to successful outsourcing is to be deliberate. Start by identifying the tasks that drain your time and energy, the ones you dislike doing, or the ones that could be done more efficiently by someone else. Then, research local services and compare prices. Don't be afraid to experiment and find what works best for you.

By carefully considering the costs and benefits, you can make informed decisions about which household tasks to outsource, ultimately creating a more balanced, happy, and productive life.

It's not just about buying convenience; it's about investing in your most valued asset: your time.