Time is Money, Only Better

“Hey, Joe can I have twenty bucks.”

“Sure Mack, here’s my checkbook and here’s my debit card. My pin number is… get whatever you want or need. I’ll make do with what is left.”

Now that is a trusting friend.  If these two guys had just met you would say Joe is Crazy!

Joe is on a fixed income. As most people are, their money doesn’t increase month to month.

This scenario sounds crazy when we talk about money.  What about time?  We have exactly 24 hours in each day, which is 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds.  As far as time is concerned, you are on a fixed income.

Fixed income or not, you still have bills to pay.

Every day you have to pay some bills with your currency of time. One is sleep, the average person requires 7 hours of sleep per day.  We have to eat, if you figure 3 meals requiring 30 minutes each to prepare and eat. Even if you eat out you have to travel to the restaurant.   Personal Hygiene 30 minutes, Work day 8 hours, traveling to and from work 30 minutes, household chores, taking out the trash, cleaning up after meals, etc.

Here is the math:

24    hours

-7.0  hours sleep

-1.5  hours meals

-0.5  hours personal hygiene

-8.0  hours work

-0.5  hours travel

-0.5  hours chores

After you deduct all of the “necessary chores” it leaves 6 hours in an average day for you. This remaining 6 hours is divided into 2-3 segments, time before work, time after work, time after dinner.   What do you do during this time?  The average American watches 2-3 hours of television a day.  We check our e-mail and read the paper, check the mail, get the kids ready for school, do extra laundry and finally we wonder, “Where has the day gone?”

With money, we have to make good decisions, set-up fees, late fees, avoid unnecessary spending and extra taxes.  Time is the only asset that is truly limited. We can’t make, buy or even steal more time.  Our only choice is to be more efficient with our time.

Protecting your Assets:

You wouldn’t let a stranger have total access to your bank accounts, you wouldn’t give a friend the PIN number to your debit card, and you wouldn’t pay double to see a movie.  Do you do these things with your time?  Do you let negative people complain for hours about their problems, or do you politely excuse yourself for more important tasks?  Would you ever get up and leave a bad movie or play to go do something more enjoyable?

Reducing set-up fees.

I ordered T-shirts for my office last year, each time an order was made there was a set-up fee.  I asked the salesman about it. He showed me a price breakdown that looked something like this: 10 shirts $100, 50 shirts $150.00, 100 shirts $250.  He explained that it takes time to change the machines, pull the shirt sizes and quantities I wanted and to set-up the machine.  If I wanted a lower overall price, I should order more shirts at one time.  My cost went from $10 per shirt down to $2.50 per shirt. Reduce your expenses on your projects by doing them in larger quantities.  It may take you 2-3 minutes to pull up your e-mail, get past all of the ads and articles, to read the few messages you actually want.  If you check your e-mail 5 times a day, you have paid 15 minutes of set-up fees.  The same is true with everything from writing letters, to opening mail, to doing the dishes.  We rarely even notice them but set-up fees will kill your available time.

Avoid late fees:

Some things can not wait.  They have to be done in order to avoid late fees on your time.  I joke about leaving the dishes until later.  There are times when this adds a huge late fee on my time.  Instead of letting the pan soak, I let the food dry.  It takes a lot longer to get it clean later.  Putting gas in your car can cost you big time. The time investment to fill up with gas is 8 minutes, late fee waiting for someone to bring you gas when you run out, 35 minutes.  Once they bring you a gallon, you still have do drive to the station and fill up.  Total investment 43 minutes.

Understanding Efficiency:

In psychology there is that phenomenon called the Peter Principal.  This principal states that a job will expand to fill the time that is allotted for its completion.  If you give yourself a day to clean the garage, cleaning the garage will take you all day.  If you give yourself 2 hours to clean the garage, cleaning the garage will take two hours.

I have been an inefficiency expert at times.  I would spend long hours at the office thinking that more time meant that I got more done.  I was right, I read more forwarded e-mail jokes, more stories on AOL News and stared into space.  I was tired and well informed at the end of the day.  I actually accomplished less because I was less efficient.

I also learned this while taking tests in college.  If I was prepared, I got through the test with a lot of time to spare. If I turned in my test as soon as I was done, I scored well. If I revisited every question, just because I had another 30 minutes, I would second guess myself and change answers that were already correct.

Reduce your spending

We spend time doing things that make us feel important.  People also create things to do to avoid doing more important tasks.

Are you constantly busy with things?  Everyone is busy.  How much of that busy time is productive and how much is doing things to make us feel important, empty activity? This isn’t a new problem for people. An ancient Chinese text says “When ego interferes in the rhythms of process there is much doing!  But nothing is done.”  Give yourself permission to let go of the things that aren’t serving you. Get the important things done, even if they aren’t pleasant.  This reduces your spending and leaves more time for YOU.

Tips and Tricks for Time Efficiency

Reduce your set-up fees by clustering your activities.  Check your e-mail once or twice a day, handle your mail every third day instead of every day.  Avoid late fees by completing a task once.  If you put it in a pile to take care of later, you will have to pay a set-up fee by sorting through the pile to find the document you want.

Avoid late fees whenever you can.  Completing a task now will take a lot less time than leaving it for later, do it now.

Use the Peter Principal to your benefit.  Give yourself shorter deadlines on your projects.  It will focus your energy, attention and supercharge your efficiency.

Investing

Look how much more time you have now that you have minimized your set-up fees, avoided late fees and reduced your wasteful spending. Now you can focus on fulfilling activities like investing your time in making memories with your family, exercising, or taking a walk.

In 30 years when you look back on what you enjoyed, it won’t be “I was busy” you can now say “I was efficient, I had a LIFE!”

Have a successful week.

Pat

Dr. Patrick Lowe is an international business consultant, speaker and the Best Selling Author of Your Success Experience,Love the Life You Live, Exprience Your Success. www.yoursuccessexperience.com

copyright 2008, Patrick Lowe D.C.                              all rights reserved