Opportunity Cost

Many of you will be familiar with opportunity cost in relation to work and business.

For those of you who have not come across this term before, here is a quick definition.

But have you ever considered Opportunity Cost in your private life?

We are constantly bombarded with choices we need to make.

Work life balance? Family time or hobbies? Friday beer or relax on the sofa? Go for a run or go for a bike ride? Weekend at the cabin or start on the long list of tasks at home? A healthy salad or a cheeky takeaway? Cross country or Downhill skiing?

Now I do appreciate that some of these options do have an overlap, Friday beer on the sofa for example!

Very often Human Nature will mean that we end up taking either the lazier option or the less favorable option so as to please others, or abate our own negative inner voice.

In the business world numbers and spreadsheets can calculate Opportunity Cost so as to back up your choices with statistics. It makes for a more compelling sense of justification.

And so with this in mind why not start scoring your choices whenever conflicted in a 50/50 scenario.

Sidenote: choices are never 50/50. You will always have a slight preference which will be unveiled if you ask someone else and they choose the option you did not prefer.

Why not allot your options with a score. You can choose your own scoring system… out of 5 stars, out of 10, out of 100, etc. It doesn’t really matter what the system is but it creates a nominal value which you become aware of. The 2 point scores from your 2 options can not exceed the total points system, if that makes sense.

(example: do the dishes 63, clean the toilet 37 = 100 total)

Now you can write down your scores if that is easier for you but most people will remember if ever they are behind.

Well done… now you can look yourself in the eyes and say “yes, i deserve 2 weeks of skiing powder in the Alps with the boys, because I didn’t doomscroll for 3 hours on Insta last night and changed the bedsheets instead”

Happy Weekend!

Doggies: Haraka and Minttu