Thanks to author and blogger, Tim Ferris, for this post about lifestyle investing. Tim talks about an exchange he had with a reader who asked if you could invest time the way you invest money. If you can have “compound interest”, then why not “compound time” as well?
We think the answer is “yes” and here’s a story from our experiences with ROWE at Best Buy that shows you why.
One of the managers we migrated at Best Buy was very, very old school. He was older, he used to be in the service, and his entire mentality about work was based on hours. You showed up on time or early. You never left early or took a long lunch or ran personal errands during the day. You put in your time and you respected the structure - no questions asked.
As he went through the migration process, this manager began to see the business and personal benefits of a ROWE. He saw his employees blossom under this new way of working, and this got him challenging his own attitudes about time. Most importantly, he realized that if he didn’t change his behavior, then he would stifle the change. Your boss can verbally support you having control over your time, but if he or she still sticks to the old ways, then that sends a counterproductive message.
So the manager started running. Instead of going to work at 8:00 a.m. every day, he went jogging through his neighborhood. This was not easy for him. At first, he felt guilty and uncomfortable. But gradually, he realized that the work was still getting done. And he saw that his employees were more comfortable working nontraditional hours. The “compound” effect didn’t put more hours in the day, but soon the team enjoyed more control over the time they had.
The traditional mindset about time will always express things in terms of amount. And if you’re trying to get “more” time in your life, you will never win. That mythical “more” doesn’t exist. But more control over your time is very doable. It feels good, it’s something you can share with others, and it creates a new culture of abundance. The fact that there are only “so many hours in the day” doesn’t have to feel like a limitation.
