The first post of this blog was a greeting, and a bit of friendly sucking up to a fellow blogger and business person. Now that I have finished that, I wanted to immediately follow up with a post that had some content. So, how would you like to have more than 24 hours in a day?
It’s possible, believe it or not.
We have long been told by self-help gurus and the like that the key to life is making the most of the 24 hours each and every one of us has in a day. In fact, I often hear people mutter about how they wish they had more time for things. Well, the good news is this - it is actually possible to buy more time during your day.
OK, before you go and call me a lying jerk, let me explain.
Let’s begin with a scenario. A 24-hour day, broken down into significant activities. Stuff like eating, travel, and using the bathroom are just kind of melded in with the main activities listed here. Really, if you are scheduling your bathroom breaks, you probably have a shrine to Stephen Covey in your home, and need to see a therapist.
Midnite - 6:00 AM - SLEEP
6:00 - 7:00 AM - Get ready for the day
7:00 - 10:00 AM - Make business calls
10:00 - Noon - Meetings
Noon - 3:00 PM - Cold-calling
3:00 - 5:00 PM - Sending out invoices
5:00 - 8:00 PM - Time with the family
8:00 - 10:00 PM - Personal time
10:00 - Midnite - SLEEP
OK, so there you have it. 24 hours worth of time, 24 hours worth of results.
But how many of those activities can you pay someone to do for you? If you paid a telemarketer to do your cold-calling, and someone else to send out your invoices, then you would recover 5 hours of your day, which you could then use to make more sales appointments, or play some golf, or go out for a decadent hot fudge sundae and spend the next several hours feeling nauseous and a little buzzed from the sugar overdose.
Do something you would rather spend your time doing. You would essentially end up with 29 hours of results for 24 hours of personal activity and some monetary outlay. You have purchased more time.
So many people have a passion for something, and go into business to do what they love. The novelty soon wears off, however, as they find themselves doing less of what they love because they are bogged down in other busy work. Stick with what your core competencies are. Do what you know and do what you love. Outsource the rest to someone who loves that portion of business.
In the end, you will be happier and more productive.
And yes, I know that is not the right way to spell “MIDNIGHT”
