As self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs there are three things we can do with our time:
We can waste it.
We can sell it.
We can invest it.
We waste time in countless ways ranging from spending inordinate amounts of time on the phone or computer and bouncing back and forth from one activity to the other due to a lack of clear direction.
When we say we can “sell our time”, this is what the majority of us set out to do. We sell our time when we offer a service in exchange for money.
How to Invest & Leverage Your Time
In order to invest your time you want to have a strategy in place that will allow you to wisely use your time so that you can spend less time making more money. Think of this in terms of leveraging your time and productivity.
According to Dan Kennedy, direct-sales entrepreneur, “Leveraging is the difference between the base cost for your hour and the amount of money you get for it or from it.”
Step 1: Get a Clear Sense of Direction
Investing your time wisely begins with having a clear sense of direction. Many people write daily to do lists. While this is a good first step it does not necessarily encourage you to invest your time wisely.
You can create lists and still get caught up in activities that are urgent but not necessarily important.
The goal is to start living your life in a sane, more productive manner by focusing on activities that are important and give you a high return on your investment of time – so that you’re planning ahead and not living in an extended state of adrenaline rush.
Step 2: Work to Live
Self-employed professionals often have little difficulty accomplishing work-related tasks. Instead, their big struggle lies within neglecting their personal lives. To balance your personal life with your work, start by learning more about your values. “What are your top 5 values that you hold?” Values consist of the things that matter most to you
They are what inspires and drives you. Examples of values are things like: Marriage, Family, Health, Security, Freedom, Community, etc. Write down your top 5 values on a piece of paper.
Step 3: Begin With the End in Mind
Many of us have heard Steven Covey’s catch-phrase, “Begin with the end in mind.” This is fantastic advice to follow.
To get a better sense of this, think about where you would like your business to be in: 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years and even during your golden years (whatever age that is for you). Don’t hesitate to visualize details.
Think about what kind of lifestyle you would like your business to offer you. Many people build their lives around their businesses, but if you were to build your business to support your lifestyle ask yourself what that would look like for you.
Once you know where you want to go, you can work backwards and determine the steps you need to take to get to your desired end result.
The marketing term for this is reverse engineering; start with the end product in mind and then determine the components (steps) it takes to create the end product.
Step 4: Evaluate & Track
Before you create your plan for the coming week, take a few minutes to evaluate the effectiveness of the previous week. Was your schedule realistic?
Did you generate results from your activities? Did you over burden yourself with too much to do? Evaluate so that you can make changes and adjustments for the week to come.
And remember… be realistic with your schedule. You don’t have to cram eight hours worth of activities into your schedule every day.
Most important of all, remember to have fun. This can be a very empowering process. When I began using this planning technique, my stress level was reduced significantly, my productivity increased dramatically and I started getting an overwhelming response from potential clients.
The same can happen for you, just give yourself permission to experiment and make improvements.
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