We see CEOs of top firms who work extremely hard and make a lot of money. Sure, they are money rich.

But at the same time, they work for almost 12-14 hours a day and most of them say that they get very little time for themselves and their family.

They are time poor.

So, how can one achieve a balance and create a system for themselves where they are both time rich and money rich?

Here are 4 things you can do to be both time-rich and money-rich:

1. Build your systems:

• System building is nothing but picking and making habits. But there are certain critical points along which we need to create our habits.
• You need to develop habits around areas that impact your life a lot.
• You should be developing habits around 4 specific areas in your life:

i. Work related habits.

• Quite often, in the initial phase of your career, you will find your boss to ask you to come in early and leave late. You will have multiple requests from your clients at odd hours.
• This might not resonate with everyone but the best thing to do in such a scenario is to simply do as you are asked.
• At a junior level you have a lot to learn and do not have much say in the company’s decision making. It is quite inevitable that you have to simply put yourself through the grind.
• Instead of looking at it as if you are doing a favour to your boss, think of it as a way you are actually helping yourself.
• When you are working from home, figure out a time period when you can work in an absolutely un-interrupted fashion.

ii. Investment related habits.

• Make sure to invest a part of your salary every month or else inflation will eat up your hard-earned money.

iii. Time-efficiency.

• A simple exercise you can do to figure out how to spend your time more efficiently is:
• For 7 days, note down in your diary how you are spending your day and how much time you are spending on each activity.

Then look for pockets of inefficiency in it.

You will realise that there will at least be a 4 hour window in your day everyday wherein you are:

a) Not enjoying what you are doing.

b) Simply worried about work, but not doing anything.

c) Not able to concentrate.

d) Whiling away your time.

In such a case, you are just being inefficient.

A lot of people think that if you are watching Netflix you are wasting your time. No, you are not.

You are wasting your time when you are neither enjoying your time nor learning.

Naval Ravikanth has put it this way-

“If you are not enjoying or if you are not making money, then what is it that you are doing with your time?”

Eliminate the pockets of time in your daily routine wherein you are just simply whiling away your time.

iv. Health-oriented system.

2 tricks to stay in decent shape without investing much time is:

• Consume lesser carbs.
• Atleast get 15 minutes of high intensity exercise every single day.

All in all, these are the 4 most important systems you must build, monitor and improve.

2. Know your hourly-rate.

• If you do not have a number in mind, you will not be able to improve upon it nor know what could be your optimal level.
• Having an hourly rate will also help you understand if what you are charging is worth the value you are providing.
• Another key advantage of knowing your hourly rate is that it helps you decide what work you can delegate and what you should be doing on your own.
• It also helps you understand whom you can hire.

3. System simplification framework.

• Let us use the example of investing in this scenario. A lot of people avoid investing in mutual funds, stocks and other instruments stating that:
• They do-not have the time.
• They find it extremely complex.
• Let us say person X has 100 rupees and wants to invest it at a certain time when it will be certain that this 100 rupees will turn into 200 rupees.
• If they do not get that deal, they will not invest.
• In such a situation, they are trying to be a maximalist.
• They are creating a highly complicated system for themself.
• This is exactly what a large chunk of the salaried people end up doing.
• Your aim should be to simplify the system. You can do an SIP on a set of stocks every month or invest in mutual funds or NIFTY.
• Create a system that makes sense for you. You cannot be working 8-10 hours a day and also wish to do intraday trading.

4. Valuing time and saying no.

• In the initial phase of your career you need to say yes to the majority of things since you are being given relatively fewer opportunities.
• But there will be a transition point in your career and you will have to learn to say no to things.
• For example, 5-7 years into your career, you will have to say NO to a lot of opportunities. You will also have to figure out to what extent you want to help your juniors.
• You can not be teaching Excel one on one. Rather you will have to teach it to the juniors in a group. This is one such example.

So, these were the 4 key-points to help you move a step closer to being both time and money rich!