Be Productive: Value Your Mind

“This is a stick up! If you value your life, you’ll do what I say!”

Ah, movies. When I was a kid, I grew up sneaking in peaks of old gangster movies from the 40’s and ‘50s from the hallway while my parents thought I was asleep.

I thought of that old gangster phrase when I was working with a client the other day.

We were discussing (again) in her office all of the different tasks that are pulling her brain away from what she does best – working billable client hours. Her gift helps her clients, her clients are happy, and she generates revenue, which makes her bank account and household happy.

But she has more “task hours” on her calendar than billable hours because she won’t farm out some of the work that needs to get done. Part of it is because she’s afraid of letting someone else do the work. The other part is the expense – she doesn’t want to shell out money for what she is capable of doing.

Suddenly, we were interrupted by a knock on the office door. A tree-trimming crew was cruising the area looking for jobs. She asked how much it would be for them to trim every tree on the lot. She did not bat an eyelash when they said $2300, and she immediately retrieved her checkbook.

She did not know them or their reputation or whether or not they even knew what they were doing. But she hired them on the spot.

When we got back into her office, we continued our chat.

How did it feel to get that task off your plate? I asked her.

“Great!” exclaimed she.

Why did you decide to delegate that task?

“Well, can you see me hanging off a ladder with a chainsaw? I’d probably chop off one of my arms! Besides being dangerous, I have no business using my time for that.”

I see you value your life and limb.

“Ha! Pun intended?”

I see you value your time when it comes to delegating tasks that require heavy physical output or sweating.

“Yeah! Who wants to do that dirty stuff?

Do you value your mind the same way?

Silence.

We tend to take what’s in our brains for granted. We need to put a value on our intellect and our gifts. Delegate your chainsaw and paper-pushing tasks so you can use your genius for more important objectives – like growing your business and earning a comfortable living.

“This is a wake up call! If you value your mind, you’ll do what I say!”