Time Management
Trading Money tor Time and Piece of Mindby Jeff Davidson
We often think we have to do it all in order to feel valuable. This article explains that occasionally hiring someone to take care of small domestic tasks can be worth the money in terms of stress relief.
According to Greek legend, Prometheus had to do everything himself. Americans have traditionally had a streak of the Promethean urge, best exemplified in John Wayne, who took care of everything himself--at least in his movies.
Some people believe that hard work always merits reward. In the work-a-day world, middle managers frequently attempt to leapfrog several positions in the company by taking on more projects -- even though they're already working beyond optimal capacity. Entrepreneurs often try to crack a new market--although they are juggling several balls already and short-changing their health.
Here are some of the danger signs that indicate you believe you have to do everything yourself:
1) You believe you'll be able to overcome obstacles by working longer.
2) You appreciate the challenge.
3) If the people around you think it can't be accomplished, all the better.
4) You become overbearing with others, but you're in pursuit of an important goal--that's what counts.
5) You think you're the only one who can do the job.
Many organizations seek out Promethean-type people. If you're willing to stay late, work on weekends, and minimize your vacation time, you may be your organization's star performer. Working hard is not a problem unless you maintain preposterous ambitions. Too many career achievers feel their accomplishments are too little and experience disappointment, frustration and health-threatening stress. To relieve these feelings, they work harder--so they'll do more--hoping a golden rainbow will appear.
You Can't Do It All, and You Can't Hide It!
If working hard earns you respect from others, or self-respect, it's time to rethink your approach. Acknowledge that you can't do everything and admit that trying harder may not be worth it.
* Rather than focusing on your weaknesses, accentuate and develop your strengths. Give yourself realistic time frames for ambitious goals.
* Divide and conquer. Take smaller steps when setting larger goals. When progress is slow, try an alternative route, a new door, or a different mind-set.
Penny Pinching
When it comes to domestic tasks, do you get stuck in a miserly mode? Do you think that if you spend a few minutes here and there taking care of this and that, you can handle all your responsibilities and avoid shelling out the money to have others do it? Many people do.
Each time you avoid hiring a service professional, when they could aid you considerably, you're ensuring that you will not win back your time. Each time you mow the grass--if you don't enjoy it--you accumulate more undesirable tasks in your life
You Can Always Make More Money: You Can't Make More Time
When I make presentations to groups around the country and explain the value of paying others in order to preserve your time, someone always asks, "What if money is tight?" I'm not presuming that you have loads of cash stashed in a trunk somewhere, most people spend more than they have.
It makes sense to pay a student $15 to cut the grass if you don't enjoy doing it yourself. You won't miss the money and you'll be glad you're not mowing the grass.
You have things you want to accomplish, things that can make you more money, much more than the $15 you pay a student. Since hiring someone else allows you to arrive at work rested and alert, this strategy aids your career.
If you're an entrepreneur or self-employed, it pays to rely on outside services so that you can focus on what you do best. If you work for an organization, there are countless opportunities for you to rely on others (at work and away from work) and alleviate the piddling tasks you don't enjoy doing. This will enable you to be at your best, and be noticed by superiors who will reward you with raises and promotions.
A Little Money Goes a Long Way: Good Money/Time Tradeoffs
In concluding her article on an interview with me, Nanci Hellmich, a reporter from USA Today, decided to run a follow-up article a month later. Hellmich invited readers to write in and discuss their time-pressure problems, mentioning that several lucky readers would benefit from my counsel and that the second article would include the results of my counseling those USA Today readers selected for their time pressure problems.
In the weeks that passed, Hellmich received hundreds of letters, and she selected respondents for me to call. Among others, I had lengthy conversations with an attorney and a graduate student.
The attorney was perpetually racing the clock. She would send her daughters to school in the morning, see her husband off on one of his frequent and lengthy business trips, and then ply her trade as a partner in a successful law firm. After work, she would pick up the children, drive them to various activities, make dinner, read to her children and put them to bed.
After I listened to her story, I asked her why she didn't order dinner a couple of times a week, rather than always having to make it herself. She had never thought about it and, on first thought, it seemed extravagant. I learned that between her and her husband, their income cleared $200,000 a year.
I asked her how much it would cost to have Chinese or pizza or chicken delivered once a week, so that she didn't have to cook at all? She thought about it and said, "An average of $12 a week; $600 a year."
I said, "Would it be worth $600 a year if, once a week, particularly during hectic work weeks, you had dinner delivered? Would that free-up some of your time? Would you enjoy it? Are you worth it?" She agreed on all counts.
The graduate student also had a hectic schedule. Besides taking several courses, she worked in the afternoons and was a volunteer for a service organization two nights a week. She frequently found herself barely making it to the bus in the morning. This kind of pressure was no way to start her day, yet it had become routine.
I listened to her story and asked, "How much is the bus ride to school?" It was $1.25. I asked how much a taxi would cost. She was aghast, "I couldn't take a taxi!" Since she didn't know the cost of a cab, I asked her to call the closest taxi company and asked about the charges from her apartment to her class, which was about $3.50.
"How upsetting would it be to your budget if, occasionally, when you were running late, you hailed a taxi and paid $3.50 instead of 1.25?" She thought about it and decided that, occasionally, it wouldn't hurt.
I said, "You could hail a taxi once a week, and in the course of a fifteen-week semester you would only pay an extra $33.75 for the luxury. You blow $33.75 all the time. Why not be gentle with yourself? Acknowledge that you're handling a lot, and you deserve to take taxi rides to school." She relented.
I'll take Manhattan
If you're a big-city, career-type, the same principle applies. If you're up on East 68th Street in Manhattan and have to get to 39th in a hurry, once a week, it won't put a dent in your pocketbook to take a taxi. If it costs you $6 more each week, in the course of a year you're only paying an extra $300. How many times have you blown $300 in ways that are far less beneficial to your health and well being? How many times do you get stuck in a miserly mode, pinching pennies, while blowing triple digits on items of marginal value?
-----------------
Jeff Davidson, MBA, CMC, is a popular conference speaker and author of 28 books, including Breathing Space (Feb 2000). For books, videos, cassettes, or presentations, visit http://www.BreathingSpace.com, FAX (919) 932-9982, or call (919) 932-1996.
