Your Time Has a Price Tag Are You Spending It Wisely?

A few weeks ago, life forced me to pause.

After a recent life-altering experience with my son, Jett, I found myself looking at my calendar in a completely different way. Not just as a business owner. Not just as the founder of ABJ Chapman Services. As a mom. As a wife. As a person who is trying to build something meaningful without missing the life happening right in front of me.

I love building ABJ. I love serving our clients, developing our team, and working toward big goals. I also want to be present for my family. I want to enjoy the life we are working so hard to create.

That has led me to one very direct question:

If my time has a price tag, am I spending it wisely?

Business owners are usually careful with money. We review subscriptions. We question software costs. We compare vendors. We ask whether an expense will produce a return.

But time? We give that away much more freely.

We say yes to meetings, events, calls, favors, committees, “quick chats,” and tasks that someone else could handle. We do it without calculating what those hours are actually costing us.

This week, I want to talk about the ROI of time, because time is not free just because there is no invoice attached to it.

Time has a real cost, even when no invoice is sent.

My time has a measurable value

I recently sat down and looked at the numbers for ABJ in a way I had not done before.

I work about 50 hours a week, which is 2,600 hours a year. When I divide what the business brings in by those hours, my time comes out to about $112 an hour.

That is revenue value, not profit and not a paycheck. But it is the filter I use now. If a meeting, event, or task does not beat $112 an hour in real value, it does not get my time.

That number matters.

To be clear, this is not profit. It is not my personal pay. It is not what I take home. It is a revenue benchmark that helps me understand the business value connected to my time at this stage of growth.

Now let’s look at where we are headed.

My goal is to build ABJ into a $1 million business. At that level, if I am still working 50 hours per week, the revenue value of my time becomes approximately $385 per hour.

If I reach that $1 million goal while working 40 hours per week, that number rises to approximately $500 per hour.

That changes how I look at everything.

Here is the simple math:

Revenue benchmark	Working hours	Approximate revenue value of time
Current annualized recurring revenue	50 hours per week	$112 per hour
$1 million annual revenue goal	50 hours per week	$385 per hour
$1 million annual revenue goal	40 hours per week	$500 per hour

When I see those numbers, I cannot ignore them.

If I spend five hours doing something that does not need to be done by me, that is not just five hours. That is time I could have spent on sales, leadership, client relationships, team development, strategy, or being fully present with my family.

That is the shift I am making.

I am no longer only asking, “Can I fit this into my calendar?”

I am asking, “Does this deserve my time?”

Networking has a cost, even when the ticket is free

Networking is one area where this lesson has become very real for me.

I want to be clear about something. I am not against networking.

I believe deeply in relationships. I believe in referrals. I believe in masterminds, community, and being in rooms with people who challenge and support you.

Some of the best opportunities in business come from trust built over time.

But there is a major difference between attending a random mixer and investing in relationships that can grow into real referrals, strategic partnerships, or qualified business.

A typical networking event is not just the hour printed on the invitation. When I include getting ready, travel, the event itself, conversations afterward, and follow-up, it is usually closer to 3.5 hours.

At my current revenue value of about $112 per hour, that networking event costs approximately $391 in time.

At my $1 million revenue goal, using the 50-hour workweek benchmark, that same event costs approximately $1,346 in time.

That does not mean I should never go.

It means the event needs to have a realistic opportunity to produce a return.

One ABJ Business Support client represents on average $1,500 per month, or $18,000 per year. If the right networking room can lead to qualified referrals, meaningful relationships, and business that fits our services, the investment can absolutely make sense.

But if I am walking into a room where I will meet people once, exchange surface-level conversations, and leave with no clear path to follow-up or referral value, I have to be honest about what that cost me.

Not every room is the right room.

Not every invitation is an opportunity.

Not every yes is strategic.

Meetings are taking more from us than we realize

This is bigger than networking. The same issue shows up in meetings, calls, and recurring commitments.

Harvard Business Review tracked 27 CEOs and found that meetings consumed 72% of their working time. That is a staggering number.

Other workplace research has found that 71% of senior managers consider meetings unproductive. Employees also lose approximately 103 hours annually to unnecessary meetings.

Think about that for a moment.

That is not a small inefficiency. That is weeks of capacity gone.

As business owners, we can fall into the trap of believing that being busy means we are being productive. A packed calendar can feel like proof that things are moving.

But a full calendar is not the same as a profitable calendar.

A full calendar is not the same as leadership.

A full calendar is not the same as growth.

Productivity research also suggests that working beyond 50 hours per week produces diminishing returns. I know this from experience. There is a point where more hours do not mean better decisions. They usually mean slower thinking, less patience, more errors, and fewer creative ideas.

That truth matters to me now more than ever.

I do not want to build a $1 million business by becoming unavailable to the people I love most.

I do not want growth that requires me to be exhausted all the time.

I do not want to look successful on paper while feeling depleted in real life.

The goal is not just to grow ABJ. The goal is to grow it in a way that is healthy, sustainable, and aligned with the life I want.

A calendar becomes more powerful when every hour has a purpose.

The filter I am using before I say yes

After nine years of building ABJ, I am learning that protecting my time is part of my job.

It is not selfish. It is leadership.

As the founder, my time needs to be spent where it creates the most value. That does not mean I am above the small tasks. I have done plenty of them, and in some seasons, I still do.

But if I continue to spend my highest-value hours on responsibilities that someone else can handle, I will become the bottleneck in my own company.

So I am using a new filter before I say yes to commitments.

Will I see these decision-makers repeatedly?

One-time exposure is usually not enough. Trust is built through repeated connection. If I am investing time in a room, I want to know whether I will have the opportunity to build real relationships there.

Is there a realistic opportunity for qualified referrals?

A room can be friendly and still not be a fit. I am looking for alignment. Are these people connected to business owners who need support? Do they understand the value of what we provide? Can the relationship become mutually useful over time?

Is this worth the value of my time?

This question is direct, and it should be. If an event costs me $391 in current time value, or potentially $1,346 at my future goal, I need to treat that as a real investment.

Could someone else on my team attend instead?

This is a big one for me. Not every opportunity requires me personally. Sometimes the best leadership decision is to delegate the opportunity, not decline it altogether.

That last question is part of my growth as a founder.

For a long time, I thought being involved meant being committed. I thought showing up everywhere proved I cared.

Now I am learning that leadership means choosing where my presence matters most.

Sometimes that is a sales conversation.

Sometimes it is a strategic planning session.

Sometimes it is mentoring someone on my team.

Sometimes it is being fully present at home, with my phone away, because my family deserves more than whatever energy is left over.

Delegation creates capacity for growth

This conversation is also a big part of why our Business Support Package matters so much to me.

Many business owners are spending their most valuable hours on administrative tasks and recurring responsibilities that someone else could handle.

They are managing inboxes, scheduling appointments, tracking follow-ups, organizing documents, sending reminders, updating systems, and chasing details that keep the business running.

Those tasks matter. They need to be done well.

But they may not need to be done by the owner.

That is where the real cost shows up.

If a business owner’s time is worth $100, $200, $300, or more per hour in business value, it becomes very expensive for them to spend that time on work that could be handled by a trained support team.

At ABJ, we help business owners create capacity.

Our Business Support Package is designed to take recurring responsibilities off their plate so they can focus on the things only they can do. That may be selling, leading, building partnerships, serving high-value clients, or creating the next stage of growth.

Support is not just about getting tasks done.

It is about giving the owner back time to think, lead, breathe, and make better decisions.

I am applying that same lesson inside my own company.

As ABJ grows, I have to keep asking myself where I am most valuable. I have to delegate more. I have to trust the team we are building. I have to stop treating every task like it needs my fingerprints on it.

That is how we grow without burning out.

That is how we build something sustainable.

That is how I protect the moments that matter outside the business, too.

Looking Ahead

My goal is still big.

I want ABJ Chapman Services to become a $1 million business. I believe we can get there. I believe in our team, our clients, and the value of the support we provide.

But I am no longer interested in growth at any cost.

I want to build a company that supports a life, not one that consumes it.

That means I will keep looking at my calendar differently. I will keep asking harder questions before I say yes. I will keep evaluating the ROI of my time the same way I evaluate expenses on the profit and loss statement.

I will still network, but I will choose the rooms more intentionally.

I will still take meetings, but they will need a clear purpose.

I will still work hard, but I am paying attention to the point where more hours stop producing better results.

And I will keep reminding myself that the best business decisions are not always about squeezing more into the week. Sometimes they are about removing what no longer belongs there.

If this is hitting close to home, it may be time to look at what is sitting on your plate that no longer needs to be yours.

ABJ can help you create that capacity through our Business Support Package. If you are ready to protect your time, delegate recurring responsibilities, and focus on the work that truly grows your business, book a consultation with ABJ Chapman Services.

Your calendar tells the truth about your priorities.

Mine is becoming clearer.

Your time is your most valuable resource. Spend it intentionally.

That is the bigger lesson I am carrying forward, as a founder, as a business owner, and as Jett’s mom.

Because the real question is not whether we can do it all.

The real question is whether everything we are doing deserves the hours we are giving it.