Most of us have heard it said that if Bill Gates dropped a $50 note on the ground, it wouldn’t be worth his time to stop and pick it up… he would make more money by just heading off to work.
While the size of the discarded note has altered over time (it has been variously quoted at $100, $500 – even $1,000) and none of us have the same earning capacity as Mr. Gates, the point remains the same: time is a resource, and it has a monetary value.
But is the value of our time simply a matter of simple arithmetic? Does an hour of your time equal your salary or business profit, divided by the amount of time you spend at your job?
Consider these thoughts on time:
You can make more money, but you cannot buy more time…
1. All of us – rich or poor, lazy or hardworking – have 24 hours (1,440 minutes) in a day. Whether we use it wisely or not is another issue.
2. Benjamin Franklin (who, by the way, is credited with the phrase
“time is money”) once said: “Lost time is never found again.” Time is
an unrecoverable resource; it marches on regardless.
3. Time is a scarce resource – you can make more money, but you cannot buy more time… and you never know when your’s will run out.
Time management gurus will use these points to encourage you to use your time more efficiently – to create and implement a time management plan; to prioritise ruthlessly and to learn to delegate and outsource.
Investing in time management techniques can be a valuable business tool, particularly as you’re trying to grow and manage a busy optical practice, but don’t overlook the value of your time in nurturing the things in life that are beyond money.
In your relationships, it is the time you invest in those you love that will enrich your life and create the memories you savour.
Similarly in business, the time you invest in the people who walk through the door of your practice (patients/clients/customers) will have a return. Building relationships with patients requires an investment of time that will, in all likelihood, breed customer loyalty.
But look beyond the obvious. Think about why it was that you wanted to work in eye care in the first place. Chances are, you wanted to help people improve their vision and you recognised that access to good vision care can radically transform a person’s life.
Investing in that passion has got to be a valuable use of time. The result may not always be measurable; it may not always be immediate; but it will always yield benefits, both for your patients and yourself.
