Chick in Charge of Time

Time is money.
Time is money!
Time is money?

However you approach the phrase, it may help you to think of the value of your time as, well... actual cash. I'm not thinking of billable hours or the income you can produce in an hour, but the satisfaction of being alive for that day, hour or minute.

We all have the same time budget, 24 hours each day, 7 days each week, and so on. How do you spend your time? Does your spending align with your values and priorities? Like anything else, our priorities shift with. Have you adjusted your time spending as well?

Routines are hard to change and can become written in stone simply because we are creatures of habit.

Here are two examples:

On the professional side: Sarah has always done the bookkeeping for her pottery supply business. She was told early on that this was a simple task with QuickBooks and that it was extremely important to have a complete understanding and awareness of the business finances. As much as Sarah hates bookkeeping, she accepted that it simply must be done. Over the years, the business has grown and now she finds that 40% of her time goes to managing the books, payroll, accounts receivables.

At home: Sarah has always felt that girlfriend time is sacred. Her work is very draining and she has been committed to keeping up with her monthly book club. She always comes prepared, having read the book selection if she wanted to or not. With the business growing, her girlfriend time is more limited, and the reading time is keeping her up nights, furiously trying to finish each book. Sarah considers dropping out, but she adores the time with her friends.

What to do: If time gobblers are causing you stress, give the situation some perspective. Why are you doing things this way? What do I gain from this? How could I change things and still get what I want? Sometimes, just explaining the situation to a friend, thinking out loud, can bring clarity you were missing.

Poor Sarah! Clearly she needs to either hire a bookkeeper or outsource the work. Every business owner goes through this growing pain and the bookkeeping is the first thing to unload from the owner's list of responsibilities. For many in her shoes, NOT hiring a bookkeeper has stunted the growth of the business because the owner was too busy sweating the drudgery.

As for the book club, she may be surprised to find that her friends feel the same way she does. She needs to try converting the book club into something that works for her. Maybe the restaurant of the month dining club? A wine tasting group? Her club isn't the problem, the BOOK is.

Finding time. Take a moment to consider your weekly or monthly obligations. Are they truly a good use of your time or fruitless routines? Is the annual vacation with your old college roommates really where you want to be each year, or is it one of those, "But we ALWAYS go to Vegas the 3rd week of whatever!"?

What about the morning sales meeting? Could it be 3 times a week? Does it really need to be EVERY day. Are you missing out on your kid's bedtime because of a silly TV show that you USED to like. Old habits die hard. Clean up your calendar!

A Business Wake

A friend of mine is preparing to dissolve her beloved business. Big sigh. When I heard the news, I knew she must be in the starting stages of business grief. I prepared to contact her in much the same way as I would reach out to a newly widowed friend. What to say? Will she be able to talk about it, or is it too soon?

Fifteen years ago, I closed my family's business, a travel agency. After making the decision, there was much to do: meet with employees, negotiate debts with creditors, sublet the office space for the remainder of the lease, sell our fixed assets, contact our licensing agencies, etc... Among the toughest parts was, without a doubt, letting long-time clients and suppliers know that we had decided to close the doors and why. They had become such great friends over the years.

We were closing the business because of my mother's terminal illness. Because of that, the closing of the business became a metaphor for what was happening in our family. A few months later, when she passed away, many clients and vendors came to her memorial and shared wonderful stories about their fun experiences with the travel agency as much as with my mom. The memorial became a funeral for 2. My mom and her business.

I am a believer in happy endings. Because we hold our businesses so close to our hearts, I have suggested to my friend that she have a business wake. I'll host. We all love her business and will miss it. This would not be a funeral, but more reminiscent of an Irish wake, with a lot of drinking and jolly story-telling. I imagine that these might become commonplace. Perhaps this could be a new business for an enterprising event producing entrepreneur!

When it comes time to close a business, the owner can feel ashamed, and filled with a sense of failure. I say, "Nonsense!". When a venture no longer serves its original purpose, profitable or not, close that sucker down and move on to another path toward your next source of happiness. Far too many of us have held on to a business, a job, or a career that WE have outgrown or that has simply become a drag.

So, make the decision, fulfill your obligations to others, throw a party and move on to brighter days. I'll host.