Time Is Money

The old adage: Time is money. We all say it. What does that really mean? Many of us are paid on the basis of the amount of time that we put in. However over the long term, the rate we are paid for our time is based on the value and efficiency of what we accomplish. Mastering the use of time is the means to the end of acquiring money.

Could time be among the scarcest of all our resources? More so than money? The US Dollar is an elastic entity. The Federal Reserve is printing currency as you read this. No one is producing more hours for your day. It is up to you to make the most of it with the choices you make.

* With both time and money, you choose to either spend it or invest it.

* Spending, with either commodity, involves using up what you have.

* Investing involves committing some of that resource with an expectation of a return.

* Are you finishing each day, week or month in the red? Or in the black?

If time is among our scarcest resources, why do so many find it so difficult to invest it?

Money is tangible. Time can not be touched, felt or seen. Time's intangibility makes it difficult for us to realize when we haven't invested it. The result is that we habitually spend it on today at the expense of tomorrow.

Most of us know the proven principals for mastering your use of time.

* Prioritize your activities based on importance on a daily basis.

* To maximize your productivity, you should work toward completing your urgent/important/critical tasks each day.

We know that effectively planning our own day makes more sense than letting others do our planning for us. Yet we constantly fall into the trap of spending our time on the less important items on other people's agendas.

Management Productivity Season is upon us. Are you ready to begin developing more productive habits to manage this precious resource? Can you reasonably expect to build a prosperous tomorrow, if you haven't worked on it today? When will you begin to establish more productive habits for investing in your agenda rather than spending your time on the priorities of others?