Ben Franklin and the value of time

A story is told about a day Benjamin Franklin was working at his Philadelphia printing company.

A man was conversing with Franklin’s assistant as to the price of a specific book. The man thought the book was overpriced and when the assistant would not lower it the man asked if Franklin would come and talk to him.

However, as Franklin approached the desk, he added another 25 cents to what his assistant had quoted. “Certainly, you cannot be serious, your assistant gave a price that was much cheaper.”

Franklin replied, “If you have purchased it from him it would have cost less, but you have taken me away from my work and the longer we discuss this the more I’ll have to charge you.”

Franklin understood that time had monetary value. As such, it should be treated as an investment in one’s career, relationships, self-improvement, and other things that will treat each minute as an investment.

This is an excerpt from “Earthly Time Management”. It investigates time management from the invention of time through 6 Unique Techniques to more effectively use the time God has given you. The book is available at Amazon.

About the author:

Rick Weaver has half a century’s experience in leadership development in retailing. He founded Max Impact Corporation, a leadership and business development consultancy company in 2002. His major accomplishments include working himself from stock clerk to director at a Fortune 50 retail chain and building a $40MM+ construction company in under 5 years. Today Max Impact offers staffing services as a franchisee of Patrice & Associates providing Executive Search, Management Recruiting, and Contract Staffing services.