> "But you see, my time is worth $xx, 24/7/365 - so 30 mins saved on task x is a net profit for me" (even though, in fact, they would not be working during those 30 minutes)

You're right. If their leisure time were merely worth as much as their regular wages then they ought to be working those 30 minutes instead. Since in fact they made the opposite choice, they clearly value their leisure time more than what they would have earned by spending that time working.

We all pay people to do things that we could do ourselves that we would rather not do.

Every time we eat out, pay a lawn service to cut our grass, have someone else wash our car.

Yes. It is dumb though to justify it based on how much you get paid hourly. They don’t understand the real concept of opportunity cost.

> It is dumb though to justify it based on how much you get paid hourly.

imo my time is actually worth many multiples of what my employer pays me for it.

That’s fine. You can value your time however you want. But don’t pretend it’s done grand economic principle.

But your time is only “worth” monetarily what the market will pay for it.

> Their lives are all about optimization of time resources / time management, and everyone should bow to their needs

You make it seem like they have a gun to the heads of the landscaper they hired to do a job, in which the landscaper now has money to do whatever want to do it with it.

To your other claim about not “working” during those 30 minutes. You are working every single minute of the day. It might not be for a paycheck, it is probably for your mental sanity by chilling out with a drink waiting for some food to arrive.

That was purely an economic decision that they value doing X over doing Y. That’s done with every transaction done throughout life.

You sew your own shirts and milk your own cow I presume?