Time vs. Energy


We view every sunrise as a new opportunity – 24 hours to succeed. We welcome the new day with a smile and with a promise to ourselves to do something productive. That struggle for productivity begins as we map and plan our day. We strive to be productive at work, in our relationships, with our children, in our leisure activities and as an active citizen in our community.
The review of your daily activities and their productivity is referred to as “Function Analysis.” In most instances we regard productivity as the activity that produces income. However, income is not the basis for all functional analysis. The retired person completes the analysis for completely different reasons than would the young professional. The use of functional analysis can assist to identify the time spent on each activity and the energy needed to be productive.
To analyze time versus energy in your daily activities (functions) you need to answer the following questions;
- What is the function?
- When did I start this function?
- What is the benefit of this function? (Ego – Personal – Financial)
- What is the cost of the function in actual dollars?
- What is the cost of the function in the amount of time spent?
- Does the benefit/goal still exist today?
- Is there a reason to continue with this function?
- What can be changed to enhance this function?
- What is your final conclusion?
The type of function to be reviewed could be a business principle or operation, your commitment to various social or business organizations that you belong to, your family activities, or anything that consumes time.
My suggestion is that you break your day into segments labeled business, family, pleasure/leisure, community, and, so on. Determine what you want to accomplish (your goal) in each segment and begin to determine the time and energy that is required to reach your goal. Of course, you will need to review and update your goals on a regular basis. Take the time to do the analysis and watch your productivity increase during each hour of the day!
Editor’s note:The term “Function Analysis” was first introduced to me as a part of the Broker Estate Building course, a course being offered by the S.E.C. Education Foundation and taught across the United States. For more information on this course and other courses being offered go to www.secedfoundation.com.