Most of the companies tend to see that the team is the most valuable assets and all other physical assets are secondary. Is that really the company’s most valuable asset?

An asset is defined as

‘Anything tangible or intangible which is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and is perceived to have positive economic value is considered an asset.’ Wikipedia

You!

You are the most important asset in the business whether you like to admit or not. Most of the companies now in these days, tend to see that the team are the most valuable asset in the company and all other physical assets are secondary; merely facilitating the value the team can produce in order to bring their organisation ahead. But if your team is the greatest asset, do you know who within the team the most valuable?

The person who contributes the most value to the organisation as an individual; and that person is YOU! The business owner. As the business owner, you are considered the most valuable asset in the organisation. You may regard your team highly, but if you look at it and the ‘value added’ from the individual perspective, you are the person who started the company or you are the person who bought over the company; and you are the person, an individual within that team, who has brought the company from this point to where it is now. Therefore, it is in the best interest for your business and for yourself to keep ‘you’ functioning optimally.

So how do we do this? There are many ways you can improve in individual’s productive value but I would like to share with you an area where I see business owners tend to neglect; and yet can give a great return on its investment. It is simple, effective and practically cost you nothing. Do you want to know what it is?

REST

 There are times in the business cycle where you’re literally overloaded with work and you do not have time for rest. This is especially true when your resources in the businesses are stretched and you are not able to hire an additional people to assist you in the task at hand. Whilst these may appear productive in short term. For example, if you are a manager, and you have a lot of work to do and you have the team working under you. If you made a team of people work for extended periods without a break, I can assure you that you’ll notice the productivity of your team will start to drop. Not only that, some of them may even leave your company. Now, if you wouldn’t do that to your team as a manager, why would you that to yourself? If you are the most ‘productive asset’ in the company it is in your best interest to keep yourself functioning at the optimal level; and if a bit of rest can help, it’s something worth considering.

 

In Jonah Lehrer’s book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, the highly controversial author states that;

“While it’s commonly assumed that the best way to solve difficult problems is to relentlessly focus, this clenched state of mind comes with a hidden cost: It inhibits the sort of creative connections that lead to breakthroughs. We suppress the very type of brain activity that should be encouraged“.

 

Creativity

 

There have been many times where I have forced myself to stop work and take time away from the business, but yet at the same time, while I’m resting, I can feel guilty because there are many things that have to be done within the business itself. But I’ve discovered personally, that the greatest ideas that came to me that added the most value to the businesses whom I work with came to me when I was not focused on work. I got that ‘Aha!’ moment.

 

Have you ever had that ‘Aha!’ moment? You’ll know how much time in resources could have been saved just by having that thought. Be it by yourself, or surrounded by people who are competent in business, the best thought processes that build the businesses whom I’ve worked with came aboard when I was resting. By forcing yourself to take a short break or by going for a long walk without distractions, or even a weekend off;  will allow your subconscious time to process the information that you have absorbed during the week, and come up with creative solutions to resolve the problems that you may be currently facing. This, in turn, will improve your own productivity.

 

By solely focusing on your business to the point of exhaustion, you will actually spend more time achieving something than if you had taken adequate rest and tackled it ‘Fresh’. Of course, many of us reading this article would be able to appreciate that rest can actually improve productivity, but how many of us will actually take the effort to take that break? I believe not all of us will, but what if you knew that by having adequate rest might actually double your productivity and add 20% in annual value to your company. Will you take a break then?

 

I know I would.