Out of many masonry tips and tricks, this is one to abide by, that caries results in all areas of the business and personal life. You know how things become unorganized, become something that has to be completed quickly, and you become flustered because it is not completed? This is where you sacrifice your quality for your time. The goal is the opposite; You must NEVER sacrifice your quality for time!

I have learned that doing something quickly results in missteps and mismanagement, and is more time-consuming because now I have to redo something and do the same task twice. This is not only a time suck but a result of a diminished reputation in the masonry business.

On the construction site this is a comparison to the “Measure twice, cut once” analogy. When we slow down and take our time to measure twice, the result of our task or project will outweigh the quickness rate at which we have completed the task or project. A wise man once asked me, have you ever heard of “The tortoise and the hare?" My response was embarrassing, “ No I did not." So I looked into the old fable after our meeting and researched it thoroughly. Realized this was something I have never learned from my childhood. This created habits for me at a young age, that were regretfully being used until that day.

This has changed the outlook of everything I did from that day on. For every project, I consider the quality result of the task or project, at which I can provide it, and how efficiently it can be done, regardless of the time it takes. Over time the quickness factor will come with repetition of your efficiency, but it must not be the priority.

Instead of taking on projects and racing to complete projects quicker, I suggest, from experience, taking your time to plan, route, and find your priorities within the project. Next, figure out how those priorities can be completed more efficiently. Not how quickly, while disregarding efficiency. Next, make sure your environment calls for the effectiveness of the task. If the environment around you, such as rain in the masonry business, has a 25% chance of affecting your project, wait until the environment has a 0% of affecting your project. You can complete projects more efficiently in one day than in two days while trying to race the assumable clock to finish something quicker.

Yes, there are times when something has to be done by a deadline or in a time of the essence. This is where “Parkinson's Law” comes into action. “Parkinson's Law” States, “that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.”  In this situation, you have no choice but to focus on efficiency, priorities, and effectiveness instead of quickness. The result should focus on its quality only. In masonry, nine times out of 10, a customer will refer your business because of your results, not because of how quickly you finished a project.

Alongside doing this in my businesses, I do this with everything I do in my personal life and the results outweigh the quickness factor. In our family, I like to model taking our time to do it right the first time, in the most efficient way, not the quickest way. I hope my daughter and son take these lessons with them in life a lot sooner than I have learned them.