How to buy more free time and increase your well-being

The front page of the National Post (July 25, 2017) really caught my eye today. The headline showed that you can increase your own happiness by letting others mow your lawn. That’s a fantastic line for landscape professionals. I love increasing people’s well-being by maintaining their gardens and landscapes.

Money and happiness

According to the article money can’t buy us happiness but it depends what we spend our cash on. We know that spending money on things doesn’t lead to increased happiness. But what if you spend money so you can have more free time? Having more time improves our well-being because it protects us from time stress. So off-loading chores you dislike is smart.

UBC study

In one study, all participants were first given $40 for the weekend and asked to buy something like a bottle of wine. Then their level of happiness was assessed.

Second,  the same group was given  another $40 to blow on the weekend but this time they were asked to buy time with the cash. For example, by having a landscape pro cut their lawn. When their level of happiness was measured it was no contest. Clearly, buying time from chores you dislike leads to increased happiness!

Guilt

It’s evident that some people feel guilty about spending money on chores they could do themselves. Consequently they miss out on increased well-being. Therefore I say, don’t feel guilty. Just call landscape pro Vas for help with your lawns and gardens  because helping you would increase my well-being!

One example from my experience

Earlier this year a referral (always appreciated!) sent me to a residence where the corner bed was looking like a meadow. When I surveyed the bed it obviously hadn’t been maintained in ages. Great!

Sadly, the owner was a fairly recent widow and she suffered with chronic back pains. Just getting through her work day was a chore. So weeding an overgrown meadow was too much for her. As neighbours stopped and pointed at the wilderness the pressure grew.

Let’s be honest, this sort of work is difficult even for landscape professionals. For me it was a challenge and something to blog about. I wish all of my work happened in high-end royal gardens.

In the end it took me 5.25 hours over three sessions to clean-up the main bed. Since the owner was allegedly having money issues she elected to clean-up the other small beds herself; thereby robbing herself of happiness. Or did she really?

The lady started calling me before the third and last session, slightly excited, about completing the clean-up. She desperately wanted to plant new plants in her newly uncovered front corner bed. Aha! By  off-loading the nasty chore of weeding she clearly increased her happiness to the point of purchasing new plants. I hope she enjoys her new bed.

Before

Notice the grasses and weeds forming a carpet. It is hard to see the Hypericum (St. John’s Wort) ground cover, roses and perennials.

I have to remind you that landscape maintenance isn’t always easy. Sometimes you have to grind it out. The idea of this website is to show what landscape maintenance looks like in the field.

After

Now finally the bed looks better. I believe this “new” bed would benefit from  future soil top-dress. The owner said she would attend to rose pruning and Syringa (lilac) flower deadheading herself. Maybe.