June 2007

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article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business'  on 6 June 2007</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>How much is your time worth?</B></div> <bR> <div> I had lunch recently with a friend who related to me the frustration he'd experienced when trying to persuade his work colleagues that moving furniture during an office expansion was not the best use of their time. Admirable as their devotion to the business - and saving it money - was, they were all fully engaged in client work. </div> <bR> <div> Keeping detailed time sheets for a few weeks is usually one of the first tasks I set new clients, so we can examine critically just what they spend their time on. If people are truly honest when recording the information, this exercise can often prove to be a bit of a shock. Most of us probably waste far more time than we would like to admit on irrelevant or unimportant things, and then frequently complain about being horribly busy and `pushed for time'. Two and a half years ago, I wrote about Stephen Covey's classic business text <I>First Things First</I>, where he categorises the way we use our time into the relative importance of the task and its urgency. We're often deceived into thinking something is important simply because we believe it's urgent. Really important matters that are genuinely urgent obviously have to take priority, but we need also to make time for non-urgent but important tasks such as preparation, planning and relationship building. The problem is that we often don't have that time available because we've already frittered it away on meaningless trivialities.</div> <bR> <div> In March, I wrote about regarding your time as an asset of your business that needs to provide a good return on investment. To take this concept further, I recommend you do the following calculation: divide the <U>total</U> annual cost to the business of employing you (salary, bonuses, National Insurance Contributions, benefits such as car allowance, private health insurance premiums - everything) by 1725.  This last figure is the number of hours worked in an average year (46 weeks at 37.5 hours per week).  Thus, if your total is £50,000, you cost the business £28.99 per hour, irrespective of what you do with that time.</div> <bR> <div>       </div> <div> Now, reflect on how much of your time over the past week was spent doing things that did not contribute to achieving the goals you have set for your business. Finally, do the maths - calculate the cost to the business of your wastefulness. Then, think about the other members of your team, and how well their time is utilised and what that's costing you.</div> <bR> <div> I'm not suggesting that people should be regarded merely as pound signs disappearing down a plug hole. Nor that every minute of every day has to be spent doing something productive - we're human, after all. But I do feel that if we all thought a bit more about getting a better return from one of the most important assets in the business - our time - we would make better decisions, would get more done and wouldn't waste this valuable commodity doing something that could be done better and more cost-effectively by someone else. Look after your time carefully - it's precious. </div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#CC3333" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>