Small Business Coaching - Beware Time Liabilities

Are you surrounded by Time Liabilities? I define a Time Liability as:

a) Anything that consumes time unnecessarily or
b) Anything that causes you to spend time in activities that are less profitable than your most profitable activity.

If your filing system causes you to spend extra time doing $9 per hour clerical work, trying to find that important document you misplaced, then you have a Time Liability. If your workspace is so uncomfortable that you have to spend time at a chiropractor every month to correct your spine alignment problems, you definitely have a Time Liability!

Over a year ago I was working with a business owner who was in severe time debt. He was working in the ballpark of 90 to 100 hours per week, and both his business and family were suffering. We started by calculating his per-hour worth. When doing his most profitable activities, he was worth $500 an hour or more. Yet we found that he was spending approximately half of his time, 45 hours or more per week, performing $25/hour, $10/hr, and even minimum wage type work! Why? A huge factor was that he was surrounded by Time Liabilities.

At one point during our training he needed to punch holes in some paper for a three ring binder. Yet when he went to punch the paper, his paper puncher clearly wasn't up for the job. He had bought a cheap model that had been basically broken after a month of use. I watched as this business owner kept turning his stack of papers around twice to punch. Most often he kept misaligning the punch and ruining the stack.

Next, he stood up from his desk, walked out of his office, marched down the hall to someone else's office, searched for their high-quality paper puncher, punched the holes in his stack, came back to the office and finally inserted them in the planner. While he went through this long process, I timed him without him knowing. It took about 6 minutes.

I asked the question, "How many times per week do you repeat that activity of having to use someone else's hole puncher?" He replied, "I don't know. Maybe 3 or 4." I responded, "So, you're losing more than an hour per month simply because you didn't spend the extra $20 to get a quality 3 hole puncher?" His response, "I didn't think of it like that at the time!" His cheap 3-hole puncher was potentially costing him nearly $500 per month…and that was just one Time Liability holding him back!

How much are your time liabilities costing you at work? If you know what you are worth per hour, you can quickly estimate the dollar-per hour impact of lost time. Any resource or system or behaviors at work that keeps you away from your profitable activities is a Time Liability. Replace Time liabilities with Time Assets. The sooner you replace them, the sooner your profitability will increase.

Are you surrounded by time liabilities? Consider the following questions:

1. Are the tools of your trade (computer, pens, stapler, etc) all within hands reach? (If you often have to get up from you chair to pull out the scissors you use often, then you have a time liability.)

2. Do you have the tools you need or is something missing? (Have you been putting off going to the office supply or computer store?)

3. Do they all work properly? (If you have to squint or lean forward to view your computer screen, then it is likely a time liability…either that or your glasses!)

4. Are your tools of the best working quality? (Remember the story of the three hole puncher. Invest more to get better results and greater longevity from the "tools of your trade".)

By trading your Time Liabilities for Time Assets, you will save time, be more productive, and reduce stress in the long run.