Calculate and Delegate
Estimate your hourly value, then delegate work that buys back better time
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
Calculate and Delegate starts with a back-of-the-napkin estimate of personal hourly value. Take annual income, remove the final three zeros, and divide what remains by two. A $50,000 income therefore produces an estimated $25 hourly rate. Compare that number with the hourly price of a laundry service, assistant, cleaner, or other provider. If help costs less, delegation is probably economically sensible. Then extend the calculation beyond a simple wage comparison: ask what the recovered time, attention, calm, or future capacity can produce. Paying slightly above the estimated rate can still be rational when small required tasks are blocking high-value work or meaningful personal time. The output is a delegation decision based on total return rather than sticker price alone.
Origin
Torabi calls the tip “calculate and delegate” and attributes the quick formula to Tim Ferriss, while noting that he may have received it from another source.
Core principles
- 01Time has an approximate economic value
- 02Delegation should consider future returns, not cost alone
- 03Small required tasks can crowd out large payoffs
- 04Recovered energy and peace are valid returns
How to run it
- 1
Estimate your hourly rate
Remove the last three zeros from annual income and divide the remaining number by two. Treat the result as a rough personal hourly rate.
Pro tip For $50,000, calculate 50 divided by two to get $25 per hour.
Watch out This is a quick estimate, not a precise accounting measure.
- 2
Price the help
Find the actual hourly or equivalent cost for someone else to perform the task. Include enough scope detail to compare like with like.
- 3
Make the first comparison
If the provider costs less than your estimated hourly rate, delegation is probably justified. If it costs more, continue to the return analysis rather than rejecting it automatically.
Watch out A wage-only comparison can undervalue delegation.
- 4
Value the time returned
Specify what you can do with the recovered time now and in the future. Count higher-value work, relationships, self-care, focus, and environmental calm where relevant.
Pro tip Name the blocked big task before hiring help for the small one.
- 5
Delegate on total return
Hire when the combined economic and personal return reasonably exceeds the cost. Review whether the freed capacity was actually used as intended.
Pro tip Run a bounded trial before making a long commitment.
In the wild
A person earning $50,000 removes the final three zeros to get 50, then divides by two to estimate a $25 personal hourly rate. If reliable help can complete a necessary task for less than $25 per hour, the quick calculation supports hiring. The person then checks what valuable work or personal capacity the returned hour enables.
→ The decision accounts for both direct cost and the return created by recovered time.
Hala hired an assistant who handles hair and makeup while Hala studies, folds clothes, and helps around the house. Tasks that formerly consumed focused time now happen in parallel, and the clean environment also improves calm and concentration.
→ Delegation returns work time, loved-one time, self-care capacity, and a more productive environment.
Common mistakes
Comparing cost only with wages
The immediate hourly spread misses what future time, focus, and energy can produce. A slightly higher service rate may still deliver positive total return.
Buying time without a purpose
Delegation is weaker when the recovered capacity has no intended use. Identify the bigger work or personal benefit being unlocked.
Is it for you?
Best for
Busy professionals and entrepreneurs deciding whether to outsource recurring administrative or household work.
Not ideal for
People whose income is highly volatile or whose recovered time has no plausible alternative use without further analysis.
From the transcript
“you take your income you take off the last three zeros”
“now divide that number by two 25 that's your hourly personal hourly rate”
“what is not doing the thing get you as well”
From the episode
Farnoosh Torabi: A Healthy State of Panic, Harness Your Fears to Build Wealth and Crush Your Goals
Farnoosh Torabi