Working all the time, and being super-workaholic, may not be the right playbook to success. Yes, productivity does not mean working all the time. Also, strategically resting and enjoying your passion will never diminish your mission.
My daily tasks include writing because that is how I get liberation. Even if I have to program a microprocessor as the day’s main task, if I have a little time, the fun is to write. When I write, I am resting because I like to write; it frees my mind. Find what fuels your inner energy for the day. For some, they like to look through the window and watch the birds where available.
In Tekedia Mini-MBA, I teach a course titled Personal Economy where we focus on your life, and not your company’s. In that course, I explain to our learners that more hours and picking all the overtimes at work will not advance you financially. What brings financial ascension is finding how to make more money per hour, and not just working more hours.
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I always use the case of an immigrant who arrives in the United States, doing minimum wage jobs by flipping burgers in fast food stores for $15 per hour. But if that person dreams a little bigger, by going through certifications on anything in America (health data coding, nursing home, carpentry, plumbing, emergency driving, etc), he can move to $30 quickly. Magically, he can work for 8 hours and make as much money working for 16 hours.
My message is simple: just as success is not an absence of failure because failure is indeed a part of success, playing and resting on what inspires you should be part of that busy work day. If you do “play” right, your productivity will improve. And you will not be asking for more hours. Rather, you will focus on making more money per hour, and over time, if you compound that strategy, you will unlock wealth secrets.
As 2023 arrives, focus to improve how much you make per hour, not structuring your life to be working all hours. Working all hours will not make you rich but improving your hourly rate via mastering new skills will unlock a better future.
A professional certification can raise your hourly wage from $20 to $60 and that means you have saved 2 hours! When you improve the hourly rate, you compound earnings.
Plan to improve the rate, not just work more hours!
Comment on Feed
Comment 1: Excellently quipped, Prof. Ndubuisi Ekekwe! Rest, adequate rest, is essential to personal productivity, it clears the mind, relaxes the nerves, refreshes and, most importantly, clears your perspective, providing you more clarity. Thanks for the great value, Sir.
Comment 2: It’s important to have a technique or mechanism for “staying alive” or recharging as some put it. Learning personal effectiveness is critical to enhancing productivity and, of course, success and wealth.
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For me, reading and writing are therapeutic, and a day is not complete without those two rituals. Writing gives clarity to thoughts in ways speaking can only dream of. Writing is liberating, and the scholarly expression of freedom it conveys is unparalleled.
Agreed
I just did a little analysis how much in naira such an immigrant earns flipping burgers in a fast food restaurant for 8 hours a day. If he works Mondays to Fridays he will earn over 1.2m naira a month. Imagine the number of skills one will acquire to earn such an amount in Nigeria. This is an incentive for more japa.
Well, since it’s already a global economy agnostic of the location of labor it will be one of the best career advice to anyone to increase productivity per hour.
Indeed. But also note that cost of living is higher. The min wage guy may be paying $1,000 on rent per month