Time Is Money… Money Is Time

I hear the phrase “time is money” often. Less often, I hear “money is time.” I’m beginning to think the latter is most important.

Many of us look back at 2009 and think, what WAS that? If you’re like me, the new year brought a really nice, clean slate that is a wonderful thing. Why we (or maybe I should speak for myself) needed January to arrive in order to get this feeling is something I’ll have to ask while laying on a couch, because I have yet to figure that out. What I do know is that I took the end of December and the first week of January (three weeks total) to just let myself decompress. I didn’t push myself to work over the holidays. I didn’t stress about work. I put off tackling those goals. I actually took a breather. I reflected on the last 12 months and came to some major conclusions. My biggest conclusion isn’t rocket science, but it is something we all tend to forget:  Wisely spend your money to buy back your time.

In my process to figure this out, I was able to answer “yes” to way too many questions. Questions like:

• My important relationships were going down hill (sorry friends)
• I felt overwhelmed way too often
• I skipped meals to work in more stuff (ha, just kidding, I never skip meals)
• I cannot stop thinking of work and the next thing
• and if you ask my husband, the worst thing was:  I was getting moody! I tend to be evenly calm, but not toward the end of 2009.

Obviously money cannot buy everything, but it can buy you some time. We primarily work with business owners who, like me, possibly feel or felt some of those very same things. I challenge you to take three days and write down your activities (yeah, this will be annoying and painful, but trust me). On the fourth day, pull out your list of the past three days and give it a really good eye ball. Where are you putting time that isn’t well spent or isn’t touching the money in your business? Delegate it! Move it out. Outsource it. Find a way to manage it or create a process to make sure it’s created and maintained just at your precise desire, but move away from it. Use your money to buy back some time, focus on the bigger goals of your business or personal life, and wisely make choices that improve your personal quality of life… money is time.