Something I have noticed is that many computer consultants place a high value on time. Each minute of each day is either billable or it’s not.

That’s true and it’s also very false. There are 86,400 seconds in a day. You don’t get anymore and neither does anyone else. I personally don’t choose to look at each moment as either billable or not. For me, that would be an easy way to drive myself crazy.

It is important to set goals and strive to exceed them, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to figure out ways to keep squeezing more billable time out of the same 86,400 seconds. You will quickly become a slave to your business if you try this.

What has also been observed is how much time computer consultants and business owners will spend trying to save small amounts of money. Payroll and anti-spam companies come to mind.

I have seen very small businesses waste dozens of hours trying to choose a payroll company to run payroll for two employees. Dozens of hours. What are dozens of hours worth in a time is money type business? It’s hundreds of dollars or more. Would you spend hundreds of dollars of billable time so that you could save $10 per month on your payroll? Now that I point it out like this, you would probably say no. But, the next time you get caught up spending large amounts of time trying to save a small amount of money, take a step back and make sure its actually worth it.

Time is money and this is true to a certain extent, but there are plenty of ways to increase your revenue without becoming a slave to your business.

Time is precious and it is the one thing that is irreversible and you will never get back. You have a limited supply of time and it is the most expensive thing you can give up.

Choose wisely.

Zachary M. Morvik