Why It's Okay to Buy Time
O magazine editor Katie Arnold-Ratliff on the virtues of throwing cash at life's tedious time-sucks.
Illustration: Ciara Phelan
For context: I live on 70th Street. There are grocery stores on 74th and 75th. Patsy’s Pizzeria, one of New York City’s best, is also on 74th. There’s a wine shop off 68th, a pharmacy at 75th. A five-story emporium of discounted designer clothes, a Lowe’s, two card stores—all within ten blocks. You see where I’m going with this: Everything I need or want is a five-minute walk away. Does that stop me from having groceries, pizza, wine, prescriptions, clothes, drain snakes, Christmas trees and pretty much everything else delivered? Nope. Will I go methodically scour that clothing emporium, or will I log on to its website and have a $40 Liberty of London scarf dropped at my door in three to five business days? Two guesses.
You could say I’m lazy. I say I’m just piddling away a few bucks to avoid a life clogged with needless chafes—desolate little tasks that accomplish nothing but their own completion. A new study suggests I’m onto something: People who use cash to buy time have been found to be more satisfied with their lives. They know, as I do, that those minutes you might have spent trying to find the cough syrup aisle are tiny opportunities, gifts you earned by prudently prioritizing.
So cab it to the airport. Order in. Pay the shipping and handling. We get only so many spins around the sun. Do you really want to spend your limited lifetime doing stuff you could avoid, if all that stands between you and a precious few hours is a couple bucks?
You could say I’m lazy. I say I’m just piddling away a few bucks to avoid a life clogged with needless chafes—desolate little tasks that accomplish nothing but their own completion. A new study suggests I’m onto something: People who use cash to buy time have been found to be more satisfied with their lives. They know, as I do, that those minutes you might have spent trying to find the cough syrup aisle are tiny opportunities, gifts you earned by prudently prioritizing.
So cab it to the airport. Order in. Pay the shipping and handling. We get only so many spins around the sun. Do you really want to spend your limited lifetime doing stuff you could avoid, if all that stands between you and a precious few hours is a couple bucks?
NEXT STORY
