Washing Socks

I’ve often heard advisors complain about the?long hours they work.?

For some, all those hours are being well-compensated. ?But many financial and insurance professionals are plagued with long days and long workweeks for which they are?not?being adequately compensated. ?Many of these are confusing?being present?at the office?with?productivity. ?They feel “busy” at work, but hours are spent each day performing tasks that aren’t making them money.??

Someone in this situation may spend an hour or two each workday involved in non-business conversations. ?Maybe there’s another half hour or so spent trying to resolve computer issues. ?Add to that hours spent doing paperwork and follow up that someone else should be doing.

Don’t confuse being?present?with being?productive.? You may spend an hour and a half at the gym or health club, but how much of that is talking sports, waiting for an exercise station instead of using a different machine in the meantime, and “resting between sets”? ?You could even count washing your socks—which is something you?do?have to do in connection with your workout—but?none?of this time really counts.

I worked with a regional manager years ago who liked to say, “The only time that counts is the time you spend with the weights over your head.?You?do?have to wash your socks, but you can’t?count?that time.”

As an advisor, the only time that counts is the time you spend face-to-face, on Zoom, or on the phone with clients or prospects, and supervising—but not doing—everything else.??If you’re not filling all your time with these things, you can’t claim you’re working a twelve-hour day. ?You may be at the office or on the road for that much time, but a lot of that time, you’re just washing socks.

Some?experts?call the time you’re actually?performing?income-generating activities “green time”. ?The rest is “brown time”. If you’ve been feeling that you are working long hours and not making enough money for the time you put in, try this for a week: Write down everything you do, all workday long, every day for a week.? Don’t?change?what you do, just record it. Then, go?back and see how much time you’re actually spending “with the weights”—that is, how much of that time is actually?green.

If your green time is four to eight hours daily, but you’re putting in ten-to-twelve hour days, too much of your time is being spent?on washing socks.

Stop washing socks, and make room for green time instead.??Your business will increase instantly while your hours decrease.?

Want help with this?? Get on a Zoom call with me. In the meantime,?keep?REACHING…