Every time I refill my MTA Metro card, I’m reminded to ask myself a crucial question. Do I want to spend time or money?
Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Follow on social media:
@GretchenRubin on YouTube
@GretchenRubin on TikTok
@GretchenRubin on Instagram
@GretchenRubin on Threads
Get the podcast show notes by email every week:happiercast.com/shownotes
Get Gretchen Rubin’s newest bookLife in Five Senses to see how she discovered a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, luck, and love: by tuning in to the five senses. Now available – order here.
Visit Gretchen’s website to learn more about Gretchen’s best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.
Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Side Hustle School,Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler.
To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Every time I ride on the New York City subway, to pay my fare, I swipe a card through a turnstile. Every time I go to refill my card, I’m faced with a question that reminds me of a much more profound question, each time I face that screen.
The kiosk asks me: “What do you want to add? Add Value or Add Time?” (By value, the machine means money.)
Often, in life, if we’re fortunate, we’re faced with trade-offs. In many instances, we can save money, and spend time. Or we can spend money, and save time.
Knowing what’s a good use of money, and a good use of time, or a waste of money, or a waste of time, is often harder to figure out than we might think. But it’s a question well worth asking.
It’s funny to me that the subway kiosk reminds me to consider this question. I’ll take a prompt for self-reflection anywhere I can get it!
Here’s a photo of what that screen looks like, in a subway station.