Last Updated on March 13, 2021 at 11:21 am
Almost everyone dreams of making more money, but almost everyone has the same two problems: (1) What should I do to make more money? And (2) how do I find the time to do it? By more money, we shall refer to a long-term, scalable combination of active and passive income focusing on automation and innovation (otherwise, it would just become labour). We shall not refer to participating in the gig economy to make small sums in exchange for time and effort.
The first part will be easier to find if we abandon the search for quick solutions and the search for guaranteed “niches”. We shall consider this in a future article. To even think about making more money, we first need the time. So let us focus on the second question: how do we find make the time to make more money (or just about anything!).
Everything discussed below on “time management” is merely common sense and wisdom handed-down again and again from our forbears. When it comes to common sense, it becomes necessary to reinvent the wheel repeatedly because we tend to get confused by new-age jargon. Ps. presenting common sense in newer ways from time to time is an elegant way to make money!
Take the case of the phrase multi-tasking. Say this aloud, and many get the impression that it is some special quality or some superpower where one handles many tasks simultaneously. Our mothers and our grandmothers and their mothers have multi-tasked for centuries. We have so much more aid from technology to become efficient, yet we struggle.
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The problem is a lack of clarity: multi-tasking evokes juggling among different tasks or parallel processing. Multi-tasking = doing one thing well at a time. That is all that anyone can do. The secret is to do one thing at one time – the same time every day, every week or every month and another thing at another time – every day, every week or every month.
I want to define multi-tasking = sticking to a routine = developing habits (atomic, nuclear, molecular, whatever. No, I have not read that book, don’t need to). When spelt out like this, it seems trivial – just like finding out the secret behind a magic trick.
“oh, is that how the magician did it” – the charm, the mystery is dead, but we often miss the point: the trick is not just in the way the deception was conceived, the trick is in the long hours of practice to achieve and package the deception.
Developing a routine is the secret to time management. It is the secret to doing anything we want. I am a comic book fan and have a huge collection at home. When I found my son a little too attracted to YouTube, I passed a decree: no using the computer while eating – enjoy the company of your parents or read a book.
He made the smart choice and chose to read comics (before you get too judgemental – not that I care – we don’t need to “bond over” food, we do it some other time). After about two years, he has finished half my entire collection: The cumulative effect of 15/20 minutes of reading, twice a day.
He has written three maths and science olympiads so far to help his analytical ability in school and for competitive exams later on. The preparation for this is 15 minutes each night after dinner. I sat with him for a few days and then left him to it. He would read half a lesson one day, complete it the next. Solve 1/3rd of a worksheet one day, finish it in three days, correct it the next day and so on.
A week before the exam, the full book is done, and he works on his earlier mistakes. The point is, no child wants to study more, but “wasting” just 10-15 minutes every day on “more school stuff” was acceptable for my son.
Developing a routine – doing certain actions at certain times only – is the simplest way to multi-task. Even 10 or 15 minutes a day or even a week can make a big difference over months and years. The pressure to “focus” reduces dramatically if the time spent is divided into capsules.
So if you want to make more money:
- allocate at least 15 minutes every weekend: 30 minutes a week; About one full day per year divided into 100 small capsules.
- Don’t waste time dreaming about how much money you would like to make in that time
- don’t waste time searching for which “area” is more profitable; Most people or their parents have already made that mistake while choosing a college degree.
- Make a list of subjects that you would like to learn more about. List of topics that will help you manage your health or relationships or money better (freefincal was born from this search)
- read/listen/watch more contents in these areas regularly. The ideas to make money will come to you. Trust the randomness of our brains to take us there.
How to find a profitable niche? We will discuss that next Saturday. Here is some related reading:
- How to earn one lakh a month passive income?
- Passive Income Automation: An Example
- Passive income examples that work in more ways than one!
- Passive income is a crucial part of your retirement plan: How to get started.
A long enough lever and a fulcrum can move the Earth said, Archimedes. The practical equivalents are a well-defined routine and the discipline to stick to it.
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Dr M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over ten years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free investment advice.Our flagship course! Learn to manage your portfolio like a pro to achieve your goals regardless of market conditions! ⇐ More than 3,000 investors and advisors are part of our exclusive community! Get clarity on how to plan for your goals and achieve the necessary corpus no matter the market condition is!! Watch the first lecture for free! One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos! Reduce fear, uncertainty and doubt while investing! Learn how to plan for your goals before and after retirement with confidence.
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