We’re all TOO BUSY

Is it just me or are we all too busy to ever actually have the time to enjoy what we are doing at any particular moment? We are so busy moving on to the next thing that we are doing, that we lose track of the simpler pleasure of enjoying the moment that you are actually ‘in’…

This isn’t just in our private lives but this has also become a problem in the businesses that we run. We chase all over the country for the next project that we are going to do, we push for the order, we push to get on site, we push to get the job done, we push to get the invoice out …then we push for payment…whilst all the time looking for the next project that we are going to get involved with.

Note : When I say ‘we’ here I don’t mean Japanese Knotweed Solutions Ltd – I mean ‘we’ as in all of us!

But why is this? Wouldn’t we all be better off slowing down a bit? Make sure the job is done correctly? …maybe have some time to ensure the job ends with a quality finish and an aftercare package in place?

What is it that prevents this approach…?

It’s a simple answer – in this very complex world that we live in – it’s all down to MONEY.

Mobile phones have a lot to answer for, e-mails, social networking sites, Skype – all great inventions – but what they actually achieved is a climate of quick responses, quick turn around and very little time to think and plan ahead.

Maybe the ‘economic downturn’ has an equal amount of the blame – many people I know have stated that over the last couple of years they have been working twice as hard – just to achieve the same income level as they had in previous years. We are all concerned that with the banks squeezing every penny, we have to bill more, we have to turn over more and we can never relax for a minute…once you relax, you’re dead. Margins have come down, profit has become a dirty word …therefore you have to turn over more, just to be able to reach the same profit levels that you did when turning over half what you do now…

I started to think about this last week when looking at our management figures for the month. I then looked at what we billed in a typical week and it set me to thinking that our weekly turnover is now greater than what my entire first year in business was…

But… am I any happier?…am I any wealthier?…am I more stressed?

The answer would be a resounding ‘NO’ to the first two questions and a ‘YES’ to the third.

So maybe we need to ALL slow down, let’s ALL put our prices up…let’s ALL do fewer jobs…

Any jobs that we do – let’s do them really well and make some money ENJOYING what we do…let’s look up and smell the roses, let’s stop and enjoy the view, lets finish early on a Friday and go fishing, let’s enjoy being in a Great country…

We are all only here once…so let’s enjoy it a bit more whilst were here?

Anyway – must go – 68 emails have come in whilst I’ve been writing this and my mobile just hasn’t stopped ringing.

 

Mike C