A British professor has developed a mathematical formula to help people find out exactly how much an hour of their time is worth.

Professor Ian Walker of Warwick University investigated the value of time after research showed that over 80 percent of respondents would buy more time if they could afford it.

"Traditionally, wages or salaries have given an indication of how we are valued at work," Walker, an economics professor, said in a statement Wednesday.

"However, by looking at salaries against taxation, the cost of living and regional variations, we can see how much an hour of our time is worth whether at work or home."

Day-to-day the formula could help in making decisions, such as whether to cook a meal or to get a takeaway, or whether to take public transport or a taxi, he said.

Visitors to www.barclaycard.co.uk/timeismoney can find out the value of an hour of their time by entering their salary, the region where they work and what kind of work they do.

For example, for a professional working in London and earning 25,000 pounds (,570) a year, an hour would be worth 6.44 pounds (.42), according to the Web site.

Cooking dinner would cost 5.37 pounds -- cheaper to get a takeaway, once you add the cost of the raw materials needed to make it yourself. Brushing your teeth comes at 32 pence -- perhaps hard to find someone to do it for you for less.

英国的一位大学教授计算出了一个数学公式，帮助人们计算具体每个人的一个小时价值多少。

英国沃里克大学的伊恩·沃克教授在研究后计算出了时间的价值。他的研究还表明如果可能的话有超过80％的人愿意购买更多的时间。

沃克教授本周三在一份声明中指出："以往人们都习惯用自己的收入来衡量其在工作中的价值。"

"但是我们必须除去税务、生活开支和地区生活水平差异开支，才能看出我们每个小时的到底值多少钱。"

这个公式可以在日常生活中帮助人们做决定，例如，是叫自己做饭还是叫外卖，是乘公共汽车还是乘出租车。

人们可以访问www.barclaycard.co.uk/timeismoney网站计算出自己每个小时的价值，你只需要填写自己的收入、居住地区以及从事的工作，就可以了。

根据这个网站的研究，一个在伦敦的职员每年的收入是25,000英镑（合36,570 美元），他每小时的收入为6.44镑（合9.42美元）。

做一顿晚饭需要5.37英镑-就算你加上原料钱，你也会发现这绝对比叫外卖便宜。刷牙需要32便士-可能不会有人愿意出再低的价来帮你刷牙。