Time Is Money
Andy Britnell discusses the relationship between time
and money. Learn to save both time and money by prioritizing
what is most important to you in business.
Time Management and Money
I remember how intrigued I was when years ago, and long before
I had heard of time management, I recognised the link between
time and money - we say that we 'spend' both time and money, and
also talk about 'saving' time and money.
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Moreover we usually find that in order
to save time, we have to spend money, and vice versa. For
example, to save time cooking, we might buy ready- prepared
food.
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Our decision depends on our circumstances and priorities - someone
else might well prefer to save some money and spend more time
preparing and cooking a meal.
We make these choices all the time and often have no objective
yardstick to show us how effective they are - unless our
choices are so extreme that eventually we are totally overloaded
with commitments, or on the other hand we run out of money!
Constantly trying to keep a balance between spending and
saving time and money demands a willingness to keep checking
priorities.
This is particularly true of self-employed people starting
or growing a business. It can be tempting to try and keep
all costs as low as possible and do everything yourself.
But this can be counter-productive when you realise just
how much is involved in starting and building up a business.
You need to think carefully about money and time management.
If you can pay a specialist to do a job and thus free yourself
up to do something else, that may be the better solution.
Here are just a few examples:
* You might be able to tinker on the computer and come
up with a logo and some marketing literature, but how long
will that take and will the results justify it? Paying a
designer might be a good move.
* Business these days is wrapped around with bureaucracy
and you must comply with all kinds of government agencies.
Is it better to do all your accounts, wages and admin work
yourself or would an employee or virtual assistant do it
better and quicker?
* Selling is an essential part of any business and one
loathed by many. You can either spend hours on the phone
working through directories, or hire professionals to do
your cold calling and set up appointments.
* Running business systems efficiently can be time-consuming
and repetitive. There are software programs available which
reduce the monotony, but they cost money. Another choice!
* If you need to travel some distance for work, consider
the respective merits of driving yourself or taking a plane
or train. A plane or train ticket may be expensive but you
might be able to do some work while you travel and still
arrive in good shape.
* You are probably constantly receiving invitations to
attend conferences, seminars and workshops. These are often
held in expensive hotels and can be pricey. It is tempting
to think you can save both time and money by not attending!
But you can meet some valuable contacts this way who will
refer you work, thus saving your marketing time and costs.
At the same time, you may well be inspired with some new
ideas to transform your business growth.
* Personal development - when you are working for yourself
and have no employer to pay for these on your behalf, training
and executive coaching looks very expensive and you may
barely even consider it. My own personal experience and
that of many of my clients shows that the spurt in growth
which comes about when you commit to personal development
can move you further and faster than you ever dreamt.
* Holidays and breaks - it is so easy to feel that we cannot
stop working or everything will start to crumble. The descent
from enthusiasm and motivation to worry and stress is an
insidious one which we may not even notice and which has
a profound impact on our time management. Give yourself
the gift of some time away from your desk, however, and
you will return feeling newly inspired and be so much more
productive.
Time and money - our investments in both will ultimately
pay off in the success of our business and the happiness
of our lives. It makes sense to think carefully about the
balance.
About the Author
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Andy Britnell's training and coaching products maximise
the potential of your staff and cut out the unnecessary
costs incurred by low morale, high turnover and repeated
recruitment.
Visit our
training website and our coaching website for information
on his powerful products and to subscribe to his FREE monthly
newsletter.
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