Time is not scalable

January 10, 2014 ← Back to home

One of the key components to software/web development today is how to make it scale. If I sell 10 widgets, how can I reach a market to sell 10,000 widgets. The internet has created this vast bazaar to reach most people on the planet. For the web, it is VERY rare now to buy a product. We think we are buying a product, but everything is now setup for a subscription or service model. That is how they scale. If you are paying $7 a month for a service, that seems like no big deal to you. However, that is $84 a year. If the company sold you a product for say, $400, but that is a one time cost and you never pay again. That would pay for itself in less than 5 years. The additional catch is this, they would have no income outside of the amortized initial sale. That being said, if they had 10,000 people buy in one month, they make 4 million dollars. That company would go under in less than 5 years because of no growth, no long-term revenue. That is why subscription models are key in today's market and company growth. However, that whole tangent has nothing to do with what I really want to talk about, which is time. (Sorry for the distraction, just something on my mind I thought I would share).

Time is not scalable

We allocate time and perform tasks. We exercise, eat, sleep, work, divide time among meetings, projects, family, travel, etc... However, we have all of these performance techniques at work on how to improve our efficiency. We rarely apply these same concepts to our home life, or to our life as a whole. We set goals, but what is our vision statement? We watch tv, but what are we accomplishing? Now, I want point out, I am a strong believer in down time. Every waking minute is not about accomplishing a task. However, we often get distracted from accomplishing what we promised ourselves in our resolutions. The worst time to join a gym is in January. The best time is mid-February, new year's resolutions have faded, and people are thinking of the summer just yet. My point is this, what is your life mission statement? What are your top 3 priorities TODAY? How do they tie into your mission statement for your life? So many technology products are scalable, but I can't scale time. I need more time, throw some more cloud time to my day. Now, that would be nice. Go to the Azure Time Server and scale today to be 28 hours. :-) It doesn't happen. That is why it is important to know what you are focused on today. I promised I would write more this year. A horrible goal actually. What is more? Is more once a month, twice a week, if I only wrote 5 times last year, does that mean I only have to write 6 times and I met my goal? Technically, but that is a pretty low bar.

Here is what I have noticed about people. If you give them an opportunity to prove themselves and succeed, they want to succeed. You need to provide them with the right tools, information, and direction. People want to succeed. They want to be respected and thanked. They want to know they are helping create something valuable. This is true for you too. If you set a goal, make sure you give yourself the right tools, information, and direction. Make one step to accomplish that goal each day. Be aware of what you are doing. Is it helping you accomplish one of your goals, are you rewarding yourself with some downtime? You can never get back time. You can never increase your time in a day. You can only optimize the use of that time. I always love so many quotes over the years, "You have the same amount of time in a day as the Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein". Yes, but I don't have the same situations, patience, or intelligence. :-) I hear all of those responses and I think if you challenge yourself, you will be amazed on what you can accomplish. "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it"...

So to all of my readers out there, I challenge you to this: For one week (not 21 days, not 90 day challenges), one week, 7 days... Pick one goal you want to accomplish this year, and spend 30 minutes each day for 7 days doing something to move toward that goal. 7 days. Now, the key is this... write me what your goal is, I'd love to help keep you accountable. Here is a great example: I want to get in shape. That is a horrible goal, something specific.. I want to run a 5k, I want to deadlift 300lbs, I want to speak Spanish, I want to learn JavaScript, I want to pay off my debt, I want to spend more time with my family (gotcha, bad goal, not specific) I want to spend AT LEAST 30 minutes a day with my family without any technology. Those are great goals, so now, for the run simply walk for 30 minutes a day. For the time with family, block it off, nothing overrides that priority. It is more important than anything else. 7 days, that includes weekends, not just your work week. Let me know how it goes.

I'll share a few I have: I want to be able to do 10 double unders, I want to practice lumosity everyday, I want to come up with a new blog concept everyday. I'll post my daily updates for the next week on my twitter feed @startupsandcode. I'm excited about what your goals are and how you are going to use your time. Let's help each other shine, grow, and succeed.

Thanks for stopping by.

-John-