How To Boost Your Income Without Working More Hours

How To Boost Your Income Without Working More Hours

by Kristi Daeda

Want to know the key to increasing your income?

Achieve your results in the shortest time possible.

Now, I’m not talking about cutting corners. I’m talking about cutting the aimless web surfing, email re-reading, and general chit-chat that can make a project grow from 20 minutes to 2 hours.

Think of how this could impact your income.

Say you have a project to complete that takes you 5 hours to finish, and pays $300. Your earnings are $60/hour. If you can get the same work done in 3 hours, you up your hourly rate to $100/hour. If you’re paid hourly, you can justify a higher hourly rate because the time savings still means the client saves money.

And then there’s the opportunity to find and do other work with all that extra time.

So, how do you make the most of your time to make the most of your income?

Do regular gut checks. Set yourself a timer and every fifteen minutes, ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing right now making me money?”
Have a to-do list. You can use the productivity flavor-of-the-week (I use GTD) or you can use a simple scratch pad and pen. Make sure that you can always see what you could be doing today that’s value added for you or your clients. Knowing that after you’re done with task A you can move onto project B can provide extra motivation.
Get organized. How much time did you spend today looking for things? Do you ever procrastinate something because you’re not sure where your reference materials are? Have you ever put something “away” never to be found again? Spending a few minutes each day on keeping things in order can pay back hours. Organize your bookmarks and computer files. Keep a paper file system.
Keep a log. If you still have trouble figuring out where your time goes, keep a running record. Every time you start or end an activity, make a note of the time and what you’re doing. Then, at the end of the week, you can see where your time went. You may find you’re not really “working” as much as you thought you were. Hate paper? Don’t think you can remember? If your work is primarily computer based, RescueTime is a good option.

By better understanding how you spend your time, you’ll better understand how to make money. It’s a win-win.

Kristi Daeda is a Success Coach working with individuals and organizations to make the most of talent. She writes about leadership, management, personal development and job search at www.kristidaeda.com.