Wallet smashing is the term me and my close circle of colleagues use to describe an action executed with poor prep or a behavior executed haphazardly. The term came from watching a friend of mine smash the bills into his wallet in order to be “quick”.
Scrambling JUST to be Quick
Now I know not everyone wants to put the 20’s in the back and the singles in the front, but he didn’t even unfold the bills…..My friend would just smash folded money into his wallet.
This resulted in his money falling out when he was paying for items and more time taken flipping bills and collecting his money to pay for things. He wanted to be quick, leaving the store, but that resulted in him wasting more time in the long run dealing with the side effects of his neglectful behavior.
What’s worse was that he did this with everything in his life. He never folded his clothing. Instead, he would roll up his pants and shirts, then throw them in his drawers. In driving, he wouldn’t check his blind spots every time.
At school, he did his homework last minute and he wouldn’t study for tests.
Wallet Smashing?
What was the problem here? “wallet smashing” is just another habit on the laundry list of bad habits. A lot of people lose their composure very quickly and find themselves scrambling through irritating chores just to get them done while neglecting the quality of the work.
Quality should come before time, but if things are left for the last minute and need to be done urgently, then time comes first. When that happens, the job is usually done carelessly.
A lot more people like doing things quick. A lot more people than I’d like to see. I don’t know why people feel like everything is a race.
The Horror of Multitasking
Multitasking is another bad habit in my opinion. The way I see it is if I have to multitask, it’s due to poor time management and bad scheduling. Doing two things at once means half-assing both things.
Even if you can multitask, it isn’t worth it in the long run. Multitasking isn’t a reliable time management system. Giving a task, no matter how simple it is your undivided attention increases your chances of success and improved quality.
Quality usually translates into longevity. When a car is built well, it won’t break down so easily. Same with a watch, house, etc.
If you want to avoid reoccurring problems, I recommend giving them your undivided attention and focus on quality, not speed.
Replacing Time Management with Task Management
A better, more reliable way is to manage tasks by order or urgency, importance and length of time needed.
For example, if you’re on auto-pay for a certain bill and it’s due today, putting money in the bank to cover it should take priority. The thing is however, that putting money in the bank isn’t urgent unless you neglect doing it beforehand.
If I did it a week in advanced, I wouldn’t have had to schedule it over doing something more important, like going to the gym or scheduling a meeting with my business partner.
The method I use is I write down EVERYTHING I need to get done that I can think of. Small things and big things alike. I then chart them a four quadrant board I have in my work den. The idea for the board is from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
The four quadrants from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People looks something like this:
There are plenty of great time and resource management systems out there, but this is the one that works well with my current lifestyle. Just remember, don’t aim to be quick, aim for quality. With proper task/time management, you won’t ever have to stress to do anything quick.
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