Here’s the challenge for this week: First, buy a stopwatch. Bring it to work. Turn the stopwatch on, and complete your first task. Check the watch — how long did that take you? Write it down. Then ask yourself: Is there a more efficient, faster, better way to do that task?

This is all about capturing the investment of time.

Next, give yourself a task that normally takes you fifteen minutes. Set the stopwatch for only ten, and see what happens. My bet is you can complete the task in ten minutes. This is stopwatch management. Now just think with me for a minute: What if you did that with all fifty of your employees? What if, Monday morning, you gave each one of them a stopwatch and told them to keep time all day on the different tasks? And then asked them one simple question: Could this task be done more efficiently? You’re not monitoring their exact answers, mind you — this isn’t micromanagement. You’re giving them a challenge. Challenge them the next day, the next week, the next month, to check their times. How much time can they save? Five minutes? Ten? Even if it’s only sixty seconds, the point is you’re creating a way of thinking about time, which is your greatest asset. Time has the biggest return on your investment that you’ll ever find. Go buy a stopwatch today. And contact us if you’re interested in our free, 3-step plan to getting more time from your business.