Judy was the President of a company, but she didn’t know the value of her own time.
Judy was stuck in the weeds performing operational tasks she couldn’t let go of. She was inundated with busy work, taking on tasks that someone else in the company could easily handle. She wasn’t spending her time directing the strategy of the company and managing the business. As a result, she was stressed, and overwhelmed working 16-hour days and her business wasn’t growing or thriving.
I taught Judy an easy way to calculate the value of her time and I helped her see that she was spending time on tasks that were not worth her time. Once she realized how she was spending her time, she began to let go of activities that were less than the value of her time.
It’s important to ask yourself, “What’s my time worth?”
Your time is your personal currency. Your time has value. When you become overwhelmed by daily priorities and taking on too much, use this time management tip: Ask yourself “Is this activity worth my time?” When you ask this question, you allow yourself to notice that you have a choice in how you spend your time.
For example, if your time is worth $100 an hour, then you shouldn’t be spending it doing $10 an hour jobs. Those activities represent lost opportunities. By understanding the value of your own time, you give yourself that care and time you need because otherwise you’ll feel like you never get anything done.
When you understand what your time is worth, you begin to create some alternatives for yourself like working together with others, asking for help, choosing different projects or tasks, or determining what the real order of priority is for projects. And when you delegate jobs or tasks instead of taking them on yourself, you give others an opportunity to learn and be mentored.
If you set up your day with a system that allows you to focus on work that is greater than or equal to the value of your time, you’re doing the right thing, because you’re treating your time with respect and integrity. You’re valuing your own time. And you’ll soon see success in the progress you make.
What’s your time worth?
Kathryn McKinnon is a Harvard Business School executive coach, time management expert, bestselling Amazon author of Triple Your Time Today, speaker and CEO of McKinnon & Company dedicated to helping executives, leaders and business owners achieve the best results with their time. More time management best practices are found in her Executive Coaching, Keynote and Signature Training Program 7 Time Management Best Practices of Highly Productive Leaders. Contact Kathryn at [email protected] if you want coaching or training to create a Time management System to reduce chaos and stress, add order to your day, boost your energy, improve your efficiency and consistently gain more productive time.