Time Is Money

A few weeks ago, I received 3 of the same fortune in 1 fortune cookie. It said:"Time is money."I found it mildly amusing and wondered if that might be my "theme" for 2010. And then yesterday, "time is money" really hit home for me. I arrived 5 minutes early for my 9am hair appointment and sat in the waiting area. I could see that my stylist was already busy and frankly, she looked panicked when I arrived. 15 minutes went by and she said, "I'll be right with you, Heath." So I waited. Another 15 minutes went by and she said, "I just have to rinse this lady's color off and I'll be right with you." So I waited.Another 15 minutes went by and she said, "I just have to dry this woman's hair and I'll be all yours." So I waited.At 10am, she called me over. 1 hour later than my scheduled appointment. But it gets better.For the next 4 hours, my stylist flew around the salon between me and about 6 other clients like a chicken with her head cut off. I did not leave the salon until 2pm.I had been there for a total of 5 hours. That's right, 5 hours.And before I left, she said, "Next time you make an appointment, be sure to tell them it's "Heather with the hair" so they know to block out double the time it takes to do a normal person." I have very thick hair and a ton of it - it does take a long time to do my hair, but not 5 hours.I really like my stylist - she's funny and gives great hair. She's also 5 minutes from my home and charges about half the price of the salon I used to go to.But I'll tell ya, sitting there for 5 hours on Saturday really got me thinking about how true "Time is money" really is - and, I think, doubly so for mom entrepreneurs.For mom entrepreneurs, our time is usually divided two ways - precious, priceless time spent with our children and productive, profitable time spent building our business.

(PRECIOUS PRICELESS PRODUCTIVE PROFITABLE) TIME IS MONEY

I was then reminded of Danielle LaPorte's recent "Stop Doing List" and thought, man, this "time is money" thing could even be reworked to:

"Time and energy is money"

And then I flipped "time is money" on its head and made it:

"Money is time"

Because MONEY paid to someone else to do things for you gives you TIME to do the things you love doing, whether it's reading a story with your kids, going to dinner with your husband or dreaming up a new design for your clothing line.

So, I decided to make a list of all the things that I could STOP doing or START paying someone else to do to free up my time - precious, priceless time to spend with my 3 amazing children (1 amazing dog, and 1 amazing husband) OR productive, profitable time spent building The Mogul Mom (look out - 2010 is going to be huge!).

Here's my list so far:

1. Instead of spending 2-3 hours grocery shopping each weekend, I'm going to use PeaPod and Alice to do it for me. Cost: $10 PeaPod delivery charge Time saved: 156 hours or 6.5 days per year2. Instead of spending hours, even days sometimes, on writing sales copy, I hired someone to do it for me. Cost: $250 Time Saved: 12 hours (a modest estimate)3. Instead of spending hours each day frantically checking new email that arrived in my inbox, I uninstalled Gmail Notifier and freed myself from the false sense of urgency it creates. Cost: $0 Time Saved: 2 hours each day4. Instead of manually replying to each email I receive asking me for referrals to manufacturers, I created a Gmail "Canned Response" with all the information prepared and ready to send. If I wanted to get super-duper efficient, I could create a Gmail Filter that looks for the words "can you please recommend a manufacturer" and automatically sends the Canned Response I created. Cost: $0 Time Saved: 30 minutes each time I receive one of these requests.5. Instead of spending 30 minutes here, 2 hours there on email and social media, I've set office hours to bring structure to my day and more white space to my schedule. Cost: $0 Time Saved: minimum of 2 hours per day or 730 hours per year.Now, Danielle suggested that women stop dying their hair but I'm not quite ready for that. BUT - what I could do is schedule the FIRST appointment at my hair salon so I know she won't be behind schedule OR find a new salon that doesn't overbook or multitask. :DI want YOU to examine your daily and weekly activities and find at least ONE thing you could STOP doing or START paying someone else to do and then post it in the comments below. Be sure to tell us how much time you'll save doing it.Time is money and money is time. How much is yours worth?