How long are you at work? 8 hours per day, with 5 weeks holidays gives 1,824 hours, that’s 114 days (allowing for the time you are asleep) or nearly a third of the year. A long time in other words. And that’s without overtime or the long hours that some people are expected to do.
Weirdly though, working long hours is seen as a badge of honour. I blame the Victorians. There have been nearly two hundred years worth of labour saving devices invented since Vicky came to the throne and yet we are still finding ways to spend our precious time working harder instead of smarter.
Of course a lot of that inventiveness has gone into making industry more productive and therefore us richer and the average working persons hours have dropped by a half.
And I’m not saying we should bunk off and just laze around; but we can take a long hard look at whatever we are doing and decide if we really need to do it that way or even do it at all.
A huge amount of our stuff can be streamlined, automated or outsourced. But streamlined first. Ask yourself; does this need to be done, if so, can it be done more effectively, and once the means is optimised then you can do the same for it’s efficiency. After that you can decide to automate or outsource. But first streamline or you will just be automating or outsourcing your own inefficiencies.
If it’s your business then this is a must, but even if it’s a job then you might as well make your life easier even if you can’t actually reduce your hours. In his book “The four hour work week”, Tim Ferris cites an example of a US IT guy who outsourced his whole job to China and pocketed the difference in salaries. It was only discovered when someone noticed a lot of remote log ins and decided to investigate.
I’m not actually suggesting you do that but there are lots of things you could do on your own initiative to help make your life easier. Even if you can’t change your work you could change your personal life to save time and effort. Hiring a cleaner, getting the laundry done, even getting a virtual PA will all free up your time to do the things you actually enjoy doing.
It’s all about being innovative and coming up with solutions to problems. And if you are doing that in your company then you get more than just an easier, more productive life. You can get money back from the government as a reduction in your corporation tax bill (or a cheque if you made a loss).
Just give me a ring (01482 814895) or drop me an email (paul@pgsaccountancy.co.uk) to find out more.
And meanwhile, enjoy the weekend, and have a great week. Just don’t work too hard, work smart instead. It’s a cliché but it’s a cliché for a reason!
Paul