It should come as no surprise to hear many people would like to work fewer hours for higher remuneration: who wouldn't? "Sure, it's what everyone wants," says Phil Daly, business coach at Pinnacle Business Solutions. "With some discipline and planning, it's definitely possible."
If you're one of the many people who spend the daily commute dreaming up ways to increase both your pay and your leisure time, then you'll love these strategies. From switching jobs to thinking rich and setting a high value on your skills, there are tangible ways to escape the grind. Here are four of the best:
Upgrade your employer
Complaining to your current employer about lousy conditions and lobbying endlessly for a payrise can be time-consuming and frustrating. Rather than indulging in some cheese and whine with your colleagues over lunch, take your frustration over current conditions and use it positively. "Identify the companies you'd most like to work for and then research what they're working on, what they're paying people and how they operate," Daly says. "Suitably armed with information, make a memorable approach to them. That's the best way of securing a great job these days."
The new rich
In The 4-Hour Workweek (Random House, $27.95), author Timothy Ferriss claims to have the formula to enable anyone to "escape 9-5, live anywhere and join the new rich". He rejects the old model of slaving away for years in order to retire with sizeable assets, only to find the best years are behind you. Instead, he says it's possible to create rewarding lives in the present using "the most important currencies: time and mobility".
One business model he favours is "automated vehicles" for generating cash without consuming time - such as online sales via pop-up ads for products such as CDs, T-shirts and sports supplements. He recommends using technology and outsourcing everything, including manufacture, billing, packing and shipping.
Ferriss's theory posits that in four hours a week you could oversee this business and make enough income to pursue your leisure interests.
Work with the best
When you're onto a good thing, stick to it. Better still, multiply it. Daly cites the Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, which states that 80 per cent of results come from 20 per cent of causes. In other words, 80 per cent of sales come from 20 per cent of clients.
For small business owners and the self-employed, this gives a great opportunity to focus attention on the 20 per cent who matter, while saying goodbye to time-wasting clients. Result: more money in less time.
"Prioritising is a key way to increase income and maximise free time," Daly says. "It makes sense to give a lot more attention and service to your top-shelf clients."
Gun for hire
Ever wondered what it is consultants do to justify earning, in some instances, thousands of dollars a day?
"When you look at what consultants earn on an hourly rate, it's certainly a higher sum than what an employee would normally earn," says Martin Farley, of the Institute of Management Consultants Australia.
Before you give your notice and start marketing yourself as a gun for hire, remember that consultants' fees don't include superannuation, sick leave and holiday pay, all of which have to be taken out of the income stream.
"For the rigorously disciplined it is possible to earn a good income in a flexible way, so there's more time to pursue other interests," Farley says.
More time, more money: doesn't that sound good?
