by Karla Brandau, CSP  

I was watching a T. Rowe commercial with a man jogging along the beac h. W e’ll call himAndrew. A man came from the bushes and as a fresh runner, easily ove rtook and ran right past Andrew. Of course the short burst of steam caused the man from  the bushes to soon stop and catch his breath. Andrew ran by him and soon left him in the dust.

 You, too, have probably seen this commercial for disciplined investments vs. short-term investments. As I watched it, I saw some parallels between disciplined investments and disciplined time management. What do they have in common?

• High school curricula don’t teach disciplined investing and they don’t teach disciplined time management. Anyone who has graduated from any educational program has, at one time or another, used the CRAM rule, hoping for high payoff. The CRAM rule equates to short term investing. There may be short-term profits, but not long-term payoff. In educational words, you may pass the test, but the long-term benefits of study are missing.
• When making a disciplined investment choice, the best advice is to ask questions. Investors can avoid trouble and losses if they ask basic questions from the start. Some basic questions include:
  • Does this investment match my investment goals?
  • Why is this investment suitable for me?
  • What are the total fees to purchase, maintain, and sell this investment?
  • What is my ROI?
  • How will this investment make money? (Dividends? Interest? Capital gains?)
  • Specifically, what must happen for this investment to increase in value? (For example, increase in interest rates, real estate values, or market share?)
• Completing a project without time problems can be avoided if basic questions are asked from the start as well. Basic questions include:
  • When is the deadline?
  • How much urgency is attached to this project?
  • Who has a stake in this project?
  • Who needs this project completed?
  • On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, how much attention to detail does this project require?
  • What things will hinder me from finishing on time?
  • Do I have to wait for information from anyone?
  • How much time should I figure in for the contingencies?

  It's almost impossible to ask a dumb question about how you are investing your money…it's your hard earned cash.

  It’s also impossible to ask a dumb question about your time. Your time is precious. If you are not careful, your time is slowly used up by minutia, drop by drop every day and you get robbed of your right to achieve personal and professional goals.

  A disciplined, steady approach can help you stay on track to meet long-term financial goals and a disciplined, steady approach to time management helps you meet intense project management, sales, or production goals.

  The disciplined approach to time management and increased performance involves distributing workloads appropriately during the month and using the reverse scheduling method. A young lady in one of my seminars told me she thought reverse scheduling was canceling appointments. I chuckled as I realized that short term planning causes the canceling of appointments.

  When trying to improve productivity, however, reverse scheduling is estimating the time you need to do a project, looking at the available time slots of discretionary time, and then plotting out and scheduling work time to complete the project by the due date.

  With heavy workloads in the global workplace, you may be tempted to use the CRAM approach or short bursts of energy prompted by immediate and urgent deadlines. Working early, working weekends, working late will surely get me caught up is the common belief. This CRAM behavior only leads to burnout.

  Just as a disciplined approach to investing in the long run yields peace of mind, quality of life, and time for spontaneous, short-term fun, such as jogging on the beach in front of your beach house, a disciplined approach to time management means peace of mind and a greater quality of life by avoiding the stressful and less fruitful cramming method of work.

  We’ve discussed what disciplined investments and disciplined work have in common and we’ve discussed how to be a disciplined time manager. The last question is: How are they different? When you are a disciplined time manager, you never have to ask your financial adviser, “Are you participating in a sales contest? Is this purchase really in my best interest, or are you trying to win a prize?”

  Tips for Disciplined Time Management:

   

  1. Don’t try to get everything done in one day. By using your monthly calendar, distribute tasks throughout the week and the month.
  2. Use the reverse scheduling method:
     a. Estimate the time you need to do a project
     b. Look at the available time slots of discretionary time by looking at your weekly and monthly calendar
     c. Plot out and schedule work time to complete the project by the due date
  3. Avoid the CRAM method of work.