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I saw a tweet and it made me question how I use my time 👇🏻
"I spent ~10 days over 3 months trying to code this basic AJAX datatable function.
I finally gave up and hired someone on Fiverr to do it.
It took him a day and cost me $150.
I have to constantly remind myself about the value of my time." https://twitter.com/travismakes/...
What is your take?
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Yassin Bouacherine
I personally only do the things I do best, and they are very often not something I could find anywhere else.
For the other things, I usually try just to document it as much as possible, with a brief introduction of the "idea/concept", and adding some illustrations that I could find online. Then, I would go to Fiverr or any other platform to do it for me.
For soft skills, I always try to do 50% of the process, as bad as it may look, I learned a lot from it, and at the same time, it was easier to deal with Freelancers since I could share my materials with them to process and make it easier for them to reach the result I want.
For me, that's my ideal time management formula!
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The effort you put in to avoid paying Fiverr people is valuable IF it means that you will be able to re-use what you learned by doing it yourself. IF you only need it once and there’s no future need for whatever skill/task you struggled to complete, THEN you pay the Fiverr person gladly.
@alara_akcasiz True. The softer and more emotional response would involve calculating your time versus the good that you're doing by supporting people needing income for basic necessities that they can only get from their Fiverr income. I'm in a more analytical mode at the moment though.
@gregg_berretta the work I had the Fivver gig worker do was an extension of my app that is totally reuseable and actually taught me a lot, so your observations are spot on!
@travismakes I put a job listing up that said essentially: Teach me how to do X and the Fiverr made the same or better money turning me into an apprentice. Fiverr isn't just for off-loading work on others; it can reward people with the patience to instruct others.
On one hand it's tempting to want to do everything. On the other hand building a successful business requires delegation
It's tricky but important knowing what to work on and what to delegate
@kayovin1 delegating with peace is one the most struggling things for me. It makes me nervous, but it also saves enormous time.
@alara_akcasiz I suspect it will be a struggle for most but there will come a time when it becomes a habit. probably takes time
I love this. I have fallen into this trap so often of trying to do it all to save money, when in reality, what I could accomplish if I shared out work more would be far more valuable. Trying to get better at putting limits of time I will spend on specific things.
100% it's sometimes better just to go the paid route since time IS money.
But do be aware that it's only useful to use Fiverr for code if you can actually use and build on top of their code in the future.
@richard_gao2 totally agree. I’m able to build ontop of the code and I probably wouldn’t have known what to ask for had I not spent so much time mapping out the feature!
Haha, someone has a quote (I think it's Naval?) that says - If money can solve a problem, then by all means throw money at it.
It really is the greatest feeling when someone takes a problem off your plate.
I suck at delegating but on the rare occasion it does work, I'm always ecstatic.
I need a big neon sign above my desk reminding me to delegate more... :D
I think we can do anything that can save money and time in an affordable economy
