There is no doubt about it – Americans are running out of time. Family dinners are a thing of the past. We run from meeting to meeting, bring work home, and squeeze free time into short bursts of stress-filled moments. The question is how we got into this predicament. It is certainly not because we are inefficient. Economists estimate that productivity has increased by 70% or more over the past 25 years. We have late night delivery, cell phones, fast food and instant messaging. Shouldn't the ability to do more work give us more time? Where did all that "extra time" go?
According to Dr. Bill Quaine We spend too much time working and not enough time doing the things we really want to do. Americans in the 21st century work more hours than peasants in the Middle Ages and spend less time at home with their families because of it. We're busy staying busy, but all that work doesn't always translate into a better lifestyle. Our debt is increasing and our free time is decreasing. In fact, we don't even spend the free time we've earned. More than 25 percent of Americans will not take any vacation days next year.
Dr. Bill Quain, veteran author, marketer, university professor and speaker prescribes a cure for the whole treadmill syndrome. Dr. Known as the "Time Doctor", Quain says he is the first person to actually solve the time problem. His book "Overcoming Time Poverty: How to Achieve more by Working less" does not cost much and does not take much time to read. But he explains a system for getting not only more free time, but also more wealth, with less work.
While many popular authors and business experts recommend taking more time off work to improve the quality of your life, Dr. Quain says this can be a recipe for disaster. “Most people trade their time for money,” says Quain. “When you work less, you earn less! Then your quality of life suffers.” In his book, he describes a simple five-step process for creating more free time with money to enjoy it.
According to Quain, the process of overcoming time poverty is different from overcoming financial poverty. Financially poor people don't have money, but time poor people have time. “We all have the same thing – 24 hours a day. It's not a lack of time, it's how we use it," says Quain.
How should we use our time? "Don't trade your time, hour by hour, for a paycheck," he says. "Use some of your time to build equity and then let the equity make you money." In his book, Quain shows readers how to develop five types of wealth-generating assets and time. Instead of making people work more hours, they can now increase the value of each hour and give them more options to spend their time.
Quain says most of us are just playing the wrong game. We work hard to make money and then work more hours when we want more money. Soon we have money, but there is no time.
It's time to play a new game - earn more money in less time. Take a job you like, but avoid the "fast track" at work. Then use your time away from work to combine the income of a CEO with the leisure time of a retiree.
And that sounds like the perfect recipe for coping with the time challenges of the 21st century.
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