Measuring Your Return on Time (ROT)
We all know about ROI, Return on Investment.
We monitor our retirement accounts, mutual funds, and businesses because we want our investments to produce the greatest possible return.
But when was the last time you evaluated something far more valuable?
Your Return on Time.
Unlike money, time is the only asset you can never earn back. Every hour is invested once. Once it is gone, it’s gone forever.
The real question isn’t whether you were busy today.
The question is this:
Did your time produce the return you wanted?
Think about your calendar as if it were a mutual fund statement.
Would you be happy with the return?
Or would you move your investment somewhere else?
The highest Return on Time comes from intentionally investing your hours where they matter most. That’s why I begin each day by identifying two things:
- MIGs – Most Important Goals
- MITs – Most Important Tasks
Your MIGs define where you’re headed.
Your MITs determine what you must accomplish today to get there.
Your goals might include:
- Improving your health
- Losing 20 pounds
- Growing your business
- Strengthening your marriage
- Achieving Inbox Zero
- Clearing years of accumulated clutter
- Spending more quality time with your family
Each day should contain work that moves at least one of those goals forward.
Too often, however, the urgent crowds out the important.
We answer emails.
We attend meetings.
We react to problems.
By the end of the day, we’ve been incredibly busy…but made truly little meaningful progress.
One of the greatest ways to improve your Return on Time is through delegation.
Ask yourself one simple question:
“Am I the only person who can do this?”
If the answer is no, it may not deserve your time.
Great leaders don’t delegate because they are trying to avoid work.
They delegate because they understand leverage.
Every hour they free up can be reinvested into coaching people, strengthening relationships, developing strategies, solving difficult problems, or creating new opportunities. Those are the activities that generate exponential returns.
Here’s a challenge.
For the next seven days, end each evening by asking yourself one question:
“What was my Return on Time today?”
Don’t judge yourself.
Simply measure it.
Because what gets measured gets improved.
Imagine what could happen if you intentionally increased your Return on Time by just 10 percent over the next year.
What would your health look like?
Your business?
Your relationships?
Your life?
Here is my question for you:
If someone audited how you invested your time last week, would they conclude you were intentionally building the life you want…or simply staying busy?
What is one change you will make this week to increase your Return on Time?