Are We Correctly Allocating Our Time and Resources?
A)??Introduction:
Most folks have a choice to allocate their use of time better. ??Notice that I said, “most folks.” I know better but still fall victim to the same time misallocation as others.
Effective use of time applies almost universally whether folks organize their daily tasks, manage family activities, plan social events, plan special occasions, shop for a date or someone to marry or engage in an actual money-profit-generating enterprise.
Time is precious, a limited resource, and non-renewable; once gone or wasted, it is gone forever. ?Resources designed to magnify the value of time are mostly technology-driven, including hardware and software programming. ?There are more brilliant programs than no one would ever dream possible.?But the same applies about training. With a horse and a saddle, the performance expectation requires much training.
Planning the use of time and the relative importance of each daily activity has occurred for thousands of years. ?We are organizing daily actions and choices, whether personal planning or technology-driven, allows us to accomplish more. ?Planning includes learned behaviors such as Individual accountability, self-sufficiency, national language, borders, historical culture, family units, the rule of law, and freedom to practice or not practice a religion. ?Structured planning over time breeds individualism, personal happiness, and sovereignty and improves civil society for each future generation.
B)?A platform for change:
A plan is necessary, preferably written, containing a daily list of activities, prioritizing their importance, and a schedule to accomplish each personal and professional goal. ?For example, a loan agent that solicits prospective borrowers for financing—usually secured by real property - should have a preplanned written daily action plan and outbound call system with a weekly activity schedule.
?The loan agent or other salesperson has multiple tasks:
Motivation to produce many closed loan transactions to satisfy customers, employers, and self is necessary to earn commissions and sustain a decent standard of living for one’s family.
C)?????Suggestions for creating an action plan.
D)??A suggested action-filled daily work schedule.
Start time 9 am to 4:30 pm- Monday through Friday. ?Maximum performance may require additional hours, some evenings and weekends.?The prolonged physical and mental effort requires breaks for physical and psychological sustainability.?And one should take occasional breaks away from all the everyday stresses. ?Ten daily walks in the sunshine will work wonders for energy, focus, and stamina. ?Walk a dog and pick up his stuff or call a friend while “frolicking in the “forest.” ?
Many folks believe that input of effort and output of results will correspond.?The common assumption by many is to expect the same results from each hour of active work.?Suppose you are an hourly wage earner at a fast-food establishment.?That’s how it works- but technology has changed that. ?But that is not how success works in most profit-making enterprises. ?Input and output rarely correspond. ??Input results may be leveraged with knowledge and proper technical tools so that output and production are geometrically greater. ??Identify those tools.
Wow, this worked; I bet I can do better.?We cannot motivate individuals to achieve.?They must develop and internalize the desire and motivation on their own.?Sometimes learning to improve becomes a passion through modified and leveraging processes.?Repeated successes always bring confidence.
Tens of thousands of brilliant individuals could achieve more if they were both motivated and changed their use of time and daily action habits.
The success of one’s action plan varies depending on one’s circumstances and stated goals. ?The preacher, teacher, psychologist, company manager, supervisor, clerk, bookkeeper, accountant, a prisoner in a confined environment, or salesperson relying on commissions have different success priorities. ?What is most valuable in a time segment for these folks will differ. ?Each person should construct a platform and assess each minute’s importance, time spent, and results received.
E)Historical references in explaining the concept of focusing on the essential items in time utilization: ?
Economists and philosophers have written about the concept known as the 80/20 rule for centuries.
Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) was a French economist who first coined the word entrepreneur.
“The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of the lower area and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.”?
?In 1896 Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, and sociologist, developed the concept of the 80/20 rule.
“In any series of elements to be controlled, a selected small fraction of the number of elements always accounts for a large fraction in terms of effect.” ?“The Pareto Principle.” was born.
In 1949 ?George Zipf, a Philosophy professor at Harvard University, stated:
“The input of resources (people, goods, time, and skills) tends to arrange themselves so that a small portion of resources (20% to 30%) account for a larger corresponding output (70% to 80%) of results.”
In 1951 Joseph Moses Juran, a management consultant and significant contributor to the quality control revolution, wrote the “Quality Control Handbook.” He renamed the “Pareto Principle,”
??????????“Rule of the Vital Few” and the “Rule of the Trivial Many.”
?In 1957, C. Northcote Parkinson wrote two books, “Parkinson’s Law” and “The Law and the Profits.”?His first law was:
“Work will expand to fill the time available for its completion.”
His message is about time wasted and the expansion of unnecessary bureaucracies in business organizations and governments. ?When people and institutions are spending other people’s money, there is a natural incentive to be inefficient and to expand the time or completion. ?Consuming assets rather than getting results is generally their motive.
“An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals.”?“Officials do work for each other.” “The number of employees will expand 5-7% per year, irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done.”
To sum this up, most of us misallocate our daily activities. ?80% of our activities account for only 20% of the intended results.?
·?????20% of salespeople produce 80% of the income.?
·?????Conversely, 80% of salespeople make 20% of the available income.
Most companies and bureaucracies allocate 80% of the available resources to the least effective 20% of activities. ?Bureaucracies such as the government are not motivated by performance or results but by consuming assets, so next year’s budget is equal to or greater than this year’s. ?They strive for more funding and subordinates, no matter how trivial the jobs are. ?Make-work jobs, or otherwise, constantly grow.
F)?????Superficial relationships and unwanted opinions from people who do not matter:
Mutual respect and dignity are necessary ingredients for long-term relationships. ?That includes respecting the time value of others.
I love critical opinions from people who have no skin in the game and don’t care.?They believe that they are innately intelligent and informed!?In their minds, they must be because they watch mainstream news nightly as the source of all knowledge and wisdom for earthly beings. ?Therefore, they are superior to those around them. ?“Follow the science” is a catch-all. ?Their opinions are always without forethought or consideration for anyone else’s views.?No other opinions matter: they are the messiahs, the “anointed ones” who possess it all.?Self-righteousness is their claim to moral superiority.
Acquaintances who do not share our positive attitude about life and our value system are usually negative pains in our neck (a_s) and should become ex-friends.?The same goes for online (superficial friends) parasites we have never met but always express their unintelligent, emotional, and irrelevant opinions. ?These parasites tend to express their ideological views and attempt to sway others to their way of thinking, which is always a 100% waste of time.?Of course, their knowledge is science-based, spoon-fed information, according to the propaganda on mainstream media news, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and FOX.?The same goes for obnoxious and opinionated co-workers and employees.?Does anyone care about their superficial opinions outside their self-subscribed microcosm??Who cares??Not Me! ?It is tiring to deal with stupid.
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Conversations may be an interactive interest of the participants (like a friend kibitzing with another). ?Conversations and time may be about meeting company objectives, developing more business, improving systems, increasing cash flow, and driving forth stated goals.?Unallocated time should be saved for family, friends, and time off.
Eliminating cluttered relationships from your personal and business sphere will provide tranquility, dignity, and positive results.
G)?Here is a suggested time/value schedule of daily activities with variable importance for each activity.
Leveraging your time will create more free time. ?A portion of your daily activities can be eliminated, consolidated, or delegated. ?You can leverage your time, talents, and skills through others. ?Others may be associates, employees, or independent contractors.
A, B, C, D, and Time Off are subsets of the time management systems.
Time effectiveness may vary according to your motivation, regimen, objectives, tenacity, and use of strategic leverage. ?Leverage comes from delegating to others.
1) “A-Time” is the most valuable time spent. ?The key is time spent containing face-to-face or one-on-one communication with your targeted buyer or seller. ?The contact may be in person, by phone, or by email but must expressly reflect “a request” that the party or prospective buyer/seller work with you or buy your products, goods, or services. ?I suggest that average salespersons do not apply 10% of their actual workday in an “A Time” mode. ?They should spend more than 60% to 80% of their available time in an “A-Time” mode.
?2)?“B-Time” is the time spent preparing (preparation time) to move into “A Time.”?A phone call request, a letter request, or an email request is probably involved. ?“B Time may constitute 30% of one’s daily schedule. ?Push your time into A and delegate to another, B to 20%.
Examples:?
a)?Draft a letter, email, text, or phone call to request an appointment for a face-to-face meeting with the prospect. ?“A” time does not start until the client is in front of you or directly on the phone.
b)???Once you consummate the transaction, all other follow-up activities to drive the process forward fall under “C Time.”
3) “C-Time” is administrative activities with no specific defined result. ?“C ??time” does have value in driving your business forward. ?“C-Time” most likely consumes 50% to 80% of our workday. ?The key is to delegate “C-Time” to support staff—employees or independent contractors—to shift your resources to the most effective use of your time.
Examples:
a)??Record keeping and regulatory compliance activities are C Time.
b)??I am developing and maintaining marketing systems and materials, including database maintenance and web-based lead sources.
c)??Office organization and administrative duties activities are C-Time.
d)??Interactions with staff and co-workers.
e)??Interface with third-party vendors such as escrow, title, appraisal, environmental engineers, and property-related insurance companies.
f)?All general activities required to maintain your business enterprise but not directly attached to closing a transaction are “C-Time.”
g)??Industry educational events.
4) “D” Time differs from time off or away from your business or money-making activities. ??“D-Time” is the catch-all of activities that produce no results and have little to no value; in other words, wasted time. ?These activities may consume a large portion of our day. ?
Examples:
a) Reading news and conversations with friends and family. ???(Some may argue that conversations with friends and family are not “wasted time.”)
b) Social media maintenance such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.
c) Casual conversations with employees and staff not related to business.
d)?Industry meet and greets—cocktails with the boys or girls. ??
H)Time Off:
Time off is not “D Time,” but “Time off” is time away from work, work-related emotional pressure, and clutter.
Everyone needs to recharge their (mental, emotional, and physical) batteries. ?Any semblance of work pressures should be avoided, including phone and computer off.?Avoid burnout by scheduling focused blocks of time away from anything related to work.?Hopefully, full days, unencumbered and away from the business environment altogether. ?
Most people have developed a place to escape from their business life or activity that helps them transition from a frantic hustle-bustle into peacefulness, tranquility, serenity, and resolve.?A personal tune-up comes to mind.
The escapee can divorce from work and, no matter how temporary, can figure out how to spend free time away from societal pressures.?And there are many. ?If you desire a copy of my article “Escape from the Jungle,” email me, and I will forward it.?I refer to this location as my “Mental Hobby Shop.”
I)????Why do people misallocate their time and resources?
One prominent reason is the fear of rejection! ?Fear of rejection is the unconscious reason people move into the “safe space” or comfort zone of B-C-D time. ?When we request that someone work with you, they may say “No,” “Yes,” “Not now,” or “Maybe later.” They could also totally disregard you.
The most challenging learning curve in any salesperson’s career is understanding that “a prospective buyer is not rejecting you personally, but merely your request.”?The salesperson must locate someone who needs their products, goods, or services. ?Training on how to handle rejection then comes into question. ?That is for another article.
This time management system is a learned process, not an event, and its use should become a lifelong habit. ?Everyone occasionally needs a tune-up or reminders.
Thank You
Dan Harkey
Educator & Private Money Finance Consultant
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