Efficiency is a success strategy that should be used to guide all your activities, whether you are seeking to accomplish personal, work, business or financial goals. In everyday terms, efficiency is the ability to effectively complete a task with the minimum amount of effort or time.

In business, efficiency is critical to the bottom-line; as you should aim to use the lowest amount of inputs, such as money, raw material, labour or machine time, to produce the maximum level of output possible. Efficiency helps you to reduce wastage and realise more profit from your efforts.

Last week, we looked at the concept of ‘lean’ production which was pioneered by Japanese auto maker, Toyota. This process of manufacturing focuses on eliminating wasteful and redundant procedures and ensuring the optimal use of resources to maximise output and profitability.

Time is a priceless commodity
Time is one resource that can never be replenished, and it is gifted to us in limited quantities. None of us can be certain of how much time we have been allocated in life, so it would be wise to be as efficient as possible in our time usage if we hope to get the most out of our endeavours.

Time becomes even more precious when your earning ability is determined by how well you can utilise the hours in a day. To increase the amount of money you can make in the restricted time available, you would need to produce more units of output or a higher-value output.

Some employees, who get paid the same salary regardless of the amount of output they produce in a day, may find it hard to appreciate the correlation between time efficiency and income. As an independent earner, however, I am painfully aware of the effect that lost time has on my pocket.

Bureaucracy is institutionalised inefficiency
While we must always try to conquer time inefficiencies at work or in our personal endeavours, there are some instances in which inefficiency is entrenched and difficult to overcome. One example is the bureaucracy faced in carrying out certain business activities in Jamaica.

In the 2014 ‘Doing Business’ ranking issued by the World Bank, which compares 189 countries for ease of doing business, Jamaica once again fell in its placement to 94. Although some reforms are being made, we still rank 168 in paying taxes – a key component of the government’s income plan.

A recent experience in attempting to take care of my obligations to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) made it clear why our nation continues to struggle with low productivity and stunted growth. A process that should be as seamless as possible, ended up robbing me of precious earning hours.

A tedious, antiquated process
The NIS is a compulsory social security programme that provides retirement, disability and health benefits to Jamaican residents. Employees have their NIS contributions deducted from salary, but the process of completing annual NIS returns for self-employed persons is steeped in inefficiency.

The first step is to get a paper card upon which must be affixed NIS stamps for each week of the year. I visited the NIS office to hand in last year’s card and received the current version. Then I went to the post office to buy fifty-three $100 stamps and pasted them in the slots on the card.

Then it was back to the NIS office to determine the total payment owed for the year. Using my income tax return, an officer prepared a demand letter with an amount to pay. Next stop was the tax office, where I handed in the form, paid the required sum, and returned to the NIS office.

Inaccuracies increase inefficiency
After examining my receipt, the NIS officer declared that the payment had not been made to the NIS account, so I had to go back to the tax office to get it rectified. Another step, more time lost. Finally, I was able to receive written confirmation that I had covered my obligations to the NIS.

Apart from the inefficient steps to get this task accomplished, I recognised that the NIS office still existed in the 20th century in regards to record-keeping. The officer searched for an index card with written details of my past payments, which seemed to be the main access point for my information.

There were teeming shelves of paper-based records, and I wondered aloud what would happen if an unfortunate fire took place. The NIS officer revealed that the institution was in the process of upgrading to more modern computer-based procedures; the timeline for completion was unknown, however.

While there are some inefficient situations that you may not be able to avoid, it is still essential for you to make the best use of your resources and become your own lean, mean production machine. Next week, I will examine some strategies that can help you to become more efficient.

Copyright © 2014 Cherryl Hanson Simpson. No reproduction without written consent.

Originally published in The Daily Observer, January 9, 2014

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Cherryl is a money coach and business mentor, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. See more of her work at www.entrepreneursinjamaica.com and www.financiallysmart.org. Contact Cherryl