Harish : I don't know where is my life going these days !! I am just running around all the time. Not getting time for myself or family.
Niraj : Ohh…that's something serious. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened ?
Harish : I get up in the morning , go through all the whatsapp discussions that happened during the night, watch business channel to listen to the experts and then leave for my office.
On my way to office, on the red signal, I put some trades in the market. After reaching office, I get busy with my work. During my lunch break, I again check markets and whatsapp discussions about markets. During my work, I keep checking market levels and my stock prices.
On my way back, I am exhausted. I reach home, crash on the sofa and watch business channel to see what happened in markets all day. Before sleeping, I again check the discussions and recommendations made by my friends in the whatsapp and FB groups about investments. And while reading, I get late to sleep (around 12.30 -1 am).
Niraj : Wow !! You run a super busy day !! You must be making huge money by doing all this !!
Harish : I wish !! But hardly any !! Neither am making any money nor getting time !! Don't know why this is happening ? I wish day was 48 hours long instead of 24. Can you help me please ?
Niraj : Well, I will try. Do you know what is your problem ?
Harish : I guess not.
Niraj : You are not able to prioritise your tasks. You need to list down things which mandatorily need to be done by you and get other things done by someone who can do it better.
Harish : You sound logical. Kindly elaborate.
Niraj : In your office, can your core job be done by anyone else ? That you need to do yourself. At your home, can someone else spend quality time with your family ? That you need to do yourself. But other things, like driving your car, doing research on your investments etc , you can hire someone who does it for you. That ways you will get more time so that you can spend quality time with your family.
Harish : Well, I forgot to tell you. I do spend quality time with my family. Every weekend we go to a mall, watch a movie, go to game-zone , have dinner and come back. So that's taken care I guess.
Niraj : Let me guess some finer details. When you watch the movie, you ask your child to keep quiet and watch the movie. In the game-zone, when your child is playing, your wife is clicking his pics and sending them to friends and relatives on whatsapp and FB , and all this while you are still busy discussing stocks on your FB and whatsapp groups.
While you all go for dinner, by the time the order comes, you give your other mobile to your child so that he can play games on it, your wife is checking on her phone – how many likes have come on FB and you are still busy discussing stocks and investments on your FB and whatsapp groups.
Harish : O my God !! Every word that you said was absolutely right !! How did you know that ? Were you following us ?
Niraj : I don't need to follow you. This is what we observe around us most of the times. We think and pretend that we are spending quality time with the family. But the fact is, we are not really WITH each other.
Harish : Then, in your opinion, what should I do ?
Niraj : I think, when you get up in the morning, chuck the mobile and TV. Spend 20-30 minutes doing exercise. If possible , wake up your child too and do exercise with him. This way both of you will spend some time together and also improve your health.
Rather than driving yourself to office, take a cab / public transport. On your way, you can either read up or listen to some music which will keep you energised.
During lunch time, have healthy discussion with colleagues (if possible, slightly different discussion than work). This will actually give you some break.
Once you reach home, spend time with your family. Ask them how was their day, what they did etc. On weekends, play some outdoor / indoor game with your child. This will strengthen your bond with the family and give you relaxation.
Harish : Wow !! Sounds like a dream day. But what about my investments ? How Will I manage them?
Niraj : As mentioned by you, anyways you are not able to make lot of money by doing all this hardwork. Why not hire a professional advisor who manages it for you ?
Harish : I had thought about that. But finding an advisor is not an easy job. Doesn't that eat up my time as well ? Also, I will have to sit with him to review my portfolio every month.
Niraj : I will answer your question in 2 parts
- Finding a good advisor isn't easy, but its worth it. So if it takes some time, spend that. Coz that time will save you lot of time later.
- Portfolio review is to be done only once a year. So take out 2 hours once in whole year to sit with the advisor and review it. For rest of the time, let the expert do his job, and you enjoy your life.
Harish : That sounds great. But I remember my father telling me, that we should do our work ourselves. Also, an advisor fees would be an additional cost for me.
Niraj : Your father was right during his times Harish. But you would agree that he didn't spend so much time on watching TV and mobile as you did. In those days, time was ample. Thus, doing everything on your own was possible. These days, the rarest resource is time. You yourself said that a day should be 48 hours long. I bet your father never said that.
All of us are born with different access to different resources. Some are born with strong financial background, some with weak. But there is one thing that we have all got in equal proportion, that is 24 hours in a day. Those who are successful, manage their 24 hours well. They only do what requires their own expertise. Other things, they get it done. The price you pay for getting things done, is far lower than the value you get by doing important things in that much time.
Harish : Thank you so much for opening my eyes Niraj. You are absolutely right. Times have changed. And we need to change with times.
We look forward to your feedback and comments on the above article.
The Author Prof. Saurabh Bajaj (BE, MBA, FRM, CFGP, CIA, AFGP) is CEO with Nidhi Investments, Mumbai. His articles have a readership from 78 Countries across the Globe. He may also be reached at CEO@nidhiinvestments.com.
The views mentioned in the article are personal opinion of the author. The characters used in the article are imaginary.
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