Think Your Way to Wealth

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Just about everyone wants to “get ahead” at work. Anything you can do to make yourself stand out (in a good way, of course) can help you advance your career and increase both your job security and your salary. But just being a 50+ hours a week person doesn’t always help you accomplish your goals, and can lead to getting burned out as well. After a certain number of hours per week, you definitely lose efficiency and the law of diminishing returns applies.

To keep yourself fresh, more efficient, and on the path to success, you need to find ways to go the extra mile while limiting the amount of time spent at work, or to work more efficiently. Here are 10 ways to get more things accomplished without putting in more time on the job.

Work smarter- Think before you start a task or project. Think about the proper steps that you need to execute in order to ensure a successful outcome. List all of the tasks you need to complete in the order they need to be completed, and get them done. Spend some time thinking about the results you want, and how you will accomplish that goal.

Follow the Pareto Principle- The Pareto Principle says that 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort. (actually 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes) While the 80/20 ratio is not an exact science, it is true that spending time on critical actions can produce more results than other less important actions. Figure out what the key 20% of the effort is to produce the maximum results, and focus your effort there. Take care of the details and finishing touches at the end, don’t focus on them in the beginning.

Delegate- Don’t be a workplace martyr, feeling that you have to do everything yourself. Delegate the tasks you are able to, especially the tasks that are time-consuming but can be done by others.

Take breaks- Get up from your desk several times a day, at least every two hours, and take a 5 or 10 minute break. Walk around and go outside and get a breath of fresh air. Your eyes, body, and mind will appreciate it.

Cut down on distractions- Don’t let phone calls, emails, or your co-workers distract you when you are “in the zone”. Screen your calls, only check your email a few times a day, and close your door if necessary to let you your co-workers know you don’t want to be disturbed. Don’t waste time surfing the net for 5 to 10 minutes every hour, only allow yourself 1 or 2 designated times a day to get your web fix.

Look for more efficient ways to do things- Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box or speak up if you think you have a better, faster, or easier way of doing things; try to think of ways you can get your work done more efficiently.

Don’t put off small tasks that can be completed quickly- If an email can be sent or a phone call returned in just a few minutes, do it and cross it off of your list, don’t wait until tomorrow.

Use technology to your advantage- Use spreadsheets, templates, email, file sharing, and other technology to your advantage by automating or standardizing certain tasks, to share files, or interact with team members. But use them to be more productive, not just for the sake of using them.

Ask for input, suggestions, and even help–don’t be an “island”-Don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. You can waste a lot of time working on a task when you might not be doing it the right way. If you are unclear of what exactly you need to do or the proper methodology, don’t sit there spinning your wheels, ask someone what the proper way to proceed is, whether it is your boss or a co-worker.

Keep meetings to a minimum, work on execution instead- Long meetings can sap your energy and frequently accomplish very little. You don’t need a weekly progress meeting to find out what someone did the week before and what they are going to do in the upcoming week. A 2 minute phone call with individuals can often accomplish the same thing a 1 hour meeting with 5 or 10 staff members.

Image by Alosh Bennett

Filed under: Career, Productivity/Organization by RC - 1 Comment →

One thing that has plagued me over the years is paying for irregular expenses. Whether it be car maintenance items, kid’s summer camp fees, semi-annual or irregular insurance payments, or a multitude of other irregularly scheduled expenses, I have always had trouble remembering to think ahead for these types of expenses and put money aside for them. These expenses should be budgeted for, but when they occur infrequently, it is hard to keep the money separated in your checking account as untouchable. Another problem is that frequently,  I have dipped into my emergency fund to pay for these expenses when I should have budgeted for them. They were not emergencies. As an example, having to replace two tires because you hit a curb and blew them out would be considered an emergency fund item; replacing your tires because they were worn and needed replacing is not an emergency, in my book. Here is an easy way to start capturing these items within your budget by setting up a separate checking account.

Brainstorm and make a list all irregular expenses you can think of.

Over a period of several days, think about all of the irregular expenses in your life. Whether it is oil changes every 3 or 4 months, semi-annual car insurance payments, school registration fees, summer camp for your kids, annual donations you make to a charity, etc. By taking a few days to think of them all, you can capture most all of them. Alternatively, you can look through your bank transactions from last year to get an idea of your irregular payments.

Total them up and divide by the number of paychecks you receive.

Take all of your irregular expenses, total them up, and divide by the number of paychecks you receive every year. For simplicity’s sake, lets assume you are paid twice a month, and the total of your irregular expenses is $2400.
$2400/24 = $100 .

Transfer that amount to a separate checking account.

Open up a separate checking account, and transfer that amount per paycheck into the separate checking account. For me, I have chosen a Capital One Direct Banking High Yield Money Market Account (not an affiliate link).  I actually set this account up before I set up my irregular expenses budget, but it works great. They offer a 3.0% APY, no minimum balance, free ATM card and free checks, and you can transfer in and out from a primary checking account as well.  There are different transactional limits on this account compared to a normal checking account, you are limited to 6 withdrawals per month, but only 3 can be by check. So, depending on the frequency of your irregular expenses, it may not be for you and you may want a more traditional account. This works out fine for me as I don’t need to write more than 3 checks a month for my irregular expenses, and I can write checks for the bills directly from this account.

Use this account to pay irregular expenses.

Now that you have it set up, when your irregular expense comes along, pay for it out of this account.

Once you set up this account, it can start helping you pay for irregular expenses even if you don’t have the entire amount in the account. Suppose it is July, you have $1200 in your account, and you have to replace your tires. (Again this should be budgeted, not an emergency!) You spend $600, so you are only left with $600, and the next month (August) you have to pay $1000 dollars for school. Even though you are down $400, you are much better off than if you hadn’t budgeted for these expenses at all, as you still have $600 to put towards the payment, instead of trying to scrape up the entire $1000.

Image by ppdigital

Filed under: Budgeting, Productivity/Organization by RC - 2 Comments →

 One of the problems of being unorganized is that it can frequently cost you money. Yesterday, on the way home from work, I noticed flashing lights in my rear-view mirror. I pulled over, and while I was waiting for the police officer to walk up to my vehicle, I wondered what I had been pulled over for. I had just pulled away from a red light, so I wasn’t speeding, had my seat-belt on, and really couldn’t think of what I had done. When the officer approached, he asked my if my registration was current, and I told him that I though so. He told me the registration sticker on my license plate expired in 2007. When I reached in to the glove compartment to retrieve my registration (which was obviously expired), I grabbed my insurance card, and I suddenly felt panicked. My insurance card expired a week ago! Now, I pay my insurance online, and knew I was current, but in Louisiana you must have proof of current insurance in your vehicle, or you can get a ticket or even towed. Oh Boy……

The police officer explained what could happen-my car could be towed, according to him (although I believe it is rare-they usually take your license plate, which is pretty bad as well) and then went back to his vehicle.  He returned a short while later, and told me that as a favor he had called my insurance company, Geico, (the phone # was on my expired insurance card) and confirmed I had coverage. He then presented me with a ticket for the expired registration, and strongly suggested I put my new insurance card in the vehicle and get my registration renewed. So, I guess I  did end up getting a little lucky by only getting one ticket.

However, all of this was entirely avoidable if I had paid the renewal, which I had received in the mail, when I received it in Dec. 2007. I am now looking at an additional $100 to $150 because I procrastinated, and then misplaced the bill due to my being unorganized. The irony of it all is that I have been working on organizing my bills and finances, and have been pretty good at paying them fairly soon after I receive them, but apparently my past caught up with me.

Photo by conner395

Filed under: Cars/Auto, Productivity/Organization by RC - 2 Comments →