“There aren’t enough hours in the day.”

Have you ever stopped to think about how ridiculous that statement is? The one thing that is the same for all of us is time, and its’ scarcity. Like any scarce resource, we need to prioritise what we do with it. There may be reasons why we can’t pick the children up from school today, or can’t go to the gym, or can’t complete the business proposal, but fundamentally it’s because we prioritised the job, the meeting, or the long lunch.

So the question is not about having enough time, for that we cannot change, it’s about how we choose to use the precious time we have. The decisions we make about time, both its use and our perception of its availability or otherwise, of how busy we really are, has implications in all aspects of our lives, and it is far less stressful to accept that time is limited, and focus on how we manage what we do with it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly research shows that time stress impacts our health and wellbeing, increasing anxiety and insomnia, and can be seen as a contributory factor to poor eating habits and not exercising regularly. In a paper “Buying Time Promotes Happiness,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, it was shown that “working adults report greater happiness after spending money on a time-saving purchase than on a material purchase.” But what if we go a step further, reduce our commitments, prioritise what is really important to us, and save the money in the process!

Lets think differently about time

We cannot change the number of seconds, minutes and hours in the day, but we can choose how we maximise the value we get from the finite time available. Time management is not a question of “not having enough time”, it is a question of priorities: what are we actually spending your time on, and is it in the areas you want to be prioritising? Balancing your career, your financial aspirations, your childcare needs, your sleep, these are all decisions you make, they are not imposed on you through some system of ‘time taxation’, where you physically have less time available than anyone else. If you extend this to areas such as happiness, health, wellbeing, joy and fulfilment, are these priorities for you? Do you have balance in your life?

Financial independence is something many of us strive for, initially for ourselves, then for our dependents, our spouse, our family, but do we really need the larger house, the new car, the vintage watch? It’s not wrong to want these things, but are we considering them in the context of the other elements in our lives? We are making constant purchasing decisions which provide insights on how we value money – the importance of the new outfit, the new watch or the new car, but how do we ‘value’ the time spent with our partner, the walk in the park, the school play, the trip to the gym or the yoga class? Surely our health and happiness rank highest when considering our list of priorities…don’t they?

This is not a test with a pass or fail, we are all doing our best to navigate our way through life and all the joys and challenges it brings. However, each of these questions is a choice – be proactive in deciding where your priorities lie, evaluating the relative importance of what you spend your time on, and make sure health and happiness are in the mix. It is all too easy to get into routines where we switch off and try to ‘survive’ the week to enjoy the weekend  - whatever you are doing, take some time to think consciously about your priorities…your happiness is in your own hands!

So what does this mean to the entrepreneur?

As an entrepreneur, your role is to “setup a business, taking on the financial risks in the hope of profit.” Nowhere here does it say “though shalt work 100 hours a week” or that you must adopt the “first in last out” work ethic. Setting up a business is about managing resources: money, time, staff, facilities – and managing your own time is one of the cornerstones of the job, so get it right from the outset!

There are two areas where preparation can be invaluable in this respect. Firstly, discipline. Whilst being an entrepreneur gives you the opportunity for “creative freedom, choice, setting your own objectives, building a legacy and having a positive impact on the world”, (see previous article 5 priorities for the top 10% of startups) without discipline you will struggle to execute your plans successfully to achieve your dream. Again, there are excellent resources online and books available on approaches to discipline. Look at how successful people organise their lives. Whose story resonates with you? Do the research, find what works for you, and put steps in place now so you can hit the ground running.

Secondly, you guessed it, we look to the business plan. You set goals based on the key assumptions and metrics which you will use to measure your progress - use these to inform your priorities. This doesn’t mean you don’t take the long lunch, but does mean you do so consciously, and accept the consequences! This acceptance we are all in control of our own time helps keep the associated pressures in perspective, and ensures you get the best out of yourself when those key decisions need your full attention.

Time is one of your most valuable commodities – time spent really understanding its value to you, in all aspects of your life, is fundamental, and helps ensure you make the most of every minute! The trick is to be deeply aware of the time cost of anything, not just in financial terms, but from the perspective of everything that is important in your life.

“Every day is precious”, but just how precious is it?

Colin Aurelius is an entrepreneur, investor and strategic adviser who has worked with a broad range of start-ups and early stage businesses over a 20 year period. Colin’s experience derives from both successes and failures as an entrepreneur in a broad range of industries including IT, enterprise software, electronics, health and digital media.

Colin works with both established businesses and start-ups in the quest to encourage talented business leaders and entrepreneurs to build profitable businesses which have a positive impact on the world. Colin has worked with Henley Business School on entrepreneurial development programmes, and more recently with the Oxford Said Business School in areas including Fintech, Blockchain and Disruptive Marketing.