What’s the value of your work? Not the value of your time; the value of your work. But, isn’t that the same as the value of your time? No, sir. Two completely different things. If you have been tracking the time it takes you to get your work done, you’ve been wasting time. Do the opposite. Place a value on your work and then do it in the appropriate amount of time.
Sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but consider this. Would you pay someone $100 an hour to mow your lawn? Of course not. Mowing a lawn is not worth $100 an hour. The person mowing the lawn may think his time is worth $100 an hour, but that is not relevant to the work he’s doing. The time value doesn’t match the value of the work.
Likewise, you wouldn’t pay a tax preparer $5.25 an hour to prepare your corporate taxes. It’s ludicrous to believe that a person with a $5.25 an hour skill set could possibly do an expert, or even decent, job with your taxes. The time value doesn’t match the value of the work.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners tend to put too much value on so many tasks when they should be doing just the opposite. Limiting the amount of time spent getting that work done.
Get a countdown timer. A tangible one will do, but I like to use a computer desktop timer (download to your computer). Pick a task that you’ve got to do today. How much of your time is that worth? Twenty minutes? Now set your countdown timer for twenty minutes and work on that task. Focus. No distractions. No interruptions. You only get to work on that task in twenty minutes. Make sure the end of the countdown timer is loud and obnoxious enough to get your attention.
When that timer goes off, you should be done and ready to move on to the next task. If you can’t get it done, finish it anyway and know that you’ve either got to get this task done faster the next time, or you may have to give it up entirely and outsource it to someone else. That’s the topic of another subject. The goal here is to train yourself to the value of the task. Train yourself to the timer.
You have got to match the value of the work with the value of the time. Yes, as an entrepreneur or small business owner, your time value varies constantly, unless you’ve got a staff around you. Regardless, limiting your time will get you more work done in the end.
