(03) 9020 2905There are two opposing views on how to get things done efficiently – the Walter Chrysler way and the Lucille Ball way.
Ball: “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.”
Chrysler: “Whenever there is a hard job to be done, I assign it to a lazy man; he is sure to find an easy way of doing it.”
Chrysler started the American car giant, Chrysler Corporation, but only after he first helped save General Motors, the first time they got deep in the poo, early last century. Walter was an efficiency genius.
Blame our strong dollar for the increasing number of Chrysler Dodge cars on the roads. They weren’t something I had to dodge, pardon the pun, when I was learning to drive 25 years ago.
Ball was a red-headed comic genius, actor and model. The star of “I Love Lucy”. I’m not sure how efficient she was – efficiency isn’t really a strong suit of the arts – but she was funny and gave the world as much joy as Walter did.
They were both rich, famous and achieved extraordinary amounts in their lifetimes.
I’m in the camp of Lucy’s thinking. But in any case, I’m a big fan of efficiency. Getting things done properly, yet quickly, is an essential part of a busy life.
And who ain’t busy? Particularly parents: Careers, big mortgages, tins lids creating havoc, trying to maintain some semblance of a social life … it’s exhausting.
I feel the same way on Sunday night that I do on Friday night – knackered – if for different reasons.
So I make friends with gadgets that allow me to get essential tasks done better, faster and cheaper, though I’m certainly no “early adopter”. I don’t like overpaying for the privilege.
But cars, email, hands-free phones, internet shopping, iView (watching shows a day later in 42 minutes instead of 60) are ways I get time back.
And I’ve seen two lessons in “efficiency” in the last week.
The first was personal. Being counter-cyclical can be efficient. Do things, buy things, take holidays, when no-one else is interested. They’ll be faster, cheaper and less full of crowds.
For example … don’t call the Tax Office with a general superannuation question on the last day of the financial year. That’s when everyone in Australia wants pre-June 30 answers IMMEDIATELY. You’ll hang up after an hour on hold. Which I did. One hour of my life I’ll never get back.
Call back on July 2 and you’ll get your answer in 10 minutes.
And stock market watchers got an interesting lesson in “market efficiency” with the David Jones saga.
Was that just a game of snakes and ladders? Looked more like a used car from the Dodgy Brothers, especially when it was announced on the last day of the financial year. The corporate regulator is investigating.
Everyone wants to be more efficient at the mundane or work-related tasks. Why? Because it allows for more time to do the less efficient things in life. And is there anything less efficient, but more fun, than your kids?
It comes down to what you consider as mundane. And, more importantly, how you value your time.
You’re in charge of your life. To varying degrees, you’re the one who decides how efficient it is. Time at the office versus time spent playing (with whatever). What trade-offs are you prepared to make to get more bit of both?
You know that you should be investing for your future. Are you going to spend the hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours you should spend learning investment markets?
Yes? Okay, when? Next week/month/year? In that case, get yourself a financial adviser or start committing to something as simple as an index fund.
Let me tell you that doing your own tax return, which you’re about to do, if there’s any complexity about it at all, is not an efficient use of your time.
Hire an accountant. They’ll get you more money back, will take less time to do it.
I’ve just given you back 10 hours of your life. Now, go and show your little boy how to make a shed a palace. And while you’re there, build your little girl a doll’s house she’ll pass down to her daughter.
Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and a licensed financial adviser. bruce@debtman.com.au.