According to conventional wisdom, if you earn 31€/hour, and a task costs less than that to outsource, then you should always pay someone else to do it. For example, if your cleaning person charges 15€/hour, you save 16€ for every hour you spend at work instead of cleaning your house.
I've encountered this advice quite often, particularly among the wealthier, productivity porn-loving, 4-Hour Work Week-thumping entrepreneur crowd.
我经常听到这样的建议，尤其是在那些富裕的、极其追求效率的、每周工作 4 小时的企业家人群中。
I don't think that advice is quite right.
我认为这个建议其实不太对。
Your time is worth less than you think
你的时间没有想象的那么宝贵
There is a hefty tax on converting time to money. In Germany, if you earned the average income (42 421€ per year), you'd lose roughly a quarter of it to income tax. Your 31€/hour salary is actually worth 24€/hour after taxes.
But there is more to account for: health insurance (7.3%)1, unemployment insurance (1.25%), public pension (9.3%) and nursing care insurance (1.775%)1 are also deducted from your salary. When it's all said and done, you take home about 20€/hour. If you also pay church tax and get the most expensive health insurance, you keep 19€/hour.