When we think of hunting for treasure, that thrill and excitement seems to drive us all. Just thinking what could be around that next corner of our adventure that could change our futures. There is a reality however that is not as glorious as many make it sound. The amount of time and work it took for a hunter to locate a treasure is often over looked in the wake of the find.
How many wealthy treasure hunters can we name? Especially, with exception to Mel Fisher, how many are wealthy from treasure hunting? Though there are a few that exists, the percentage is well below 1% of hunters that found something substantial and took home the reward.
In essence, we must love what we do, sure but we must also utilize our time wisely. Take a man who drives an hour to a random spot. He metal detects for 6 hours and finds a $100 coin. Thats a pretty good find. If he spent $20 in fuel, then he made $10 per hour for his time. Or the Fandango treasure hunt for example. The reward for that hunt is $15,000. If you take the 100 hours you had in solving it, added your travel costs for retrieval, then subtracted the taxes, where would you be?
We also know that any treasure clearly worth the time will be a marathon, not a sprint. So how do we manage our time wisely to be as effective as possible? Let’s look at a typical person’s hours in a week. With 168 hours in a week, 56 will immediately go to sleep. Given the average person has a 40 hour a week job and works an average of 1 hour a day at home, we are down to 65 remaining hours. Now factor in driving, family time, showers, cooking, bathroom, and all the little things that must be done each day and you would be lucky to have 10 hours a week to apply to your treasure hunt.
Treasure Hunting-Time Management clock
Treasure Hunting-Time Management
How you spend those 10 hours will ultimately determine you success in your quest. Scouring the internet looking for other peoples answers are a waste of time as it would have been found if they were right. Emailing your answers to others could also prove to be foolish. All this while keeping your mind rested and free from distractions to be as efficient as possible.
A good recipe is to keep your time down to 6 hours a week, if you are dedicated. Of those 6 hours, spend 4 on your own research from good reliable sources. Take 1 hour a week and find an inspiration source. An outlet that helps spawn new ideas or ways of thinking to apply to your research. Take your remaining hour and find something that entertains you on the subject. Time to just enjoy what you are interested in.
Having a good, structured approach not only gives us all a quality balance, but it allows us to be more effective when we apply ourselves. The key is to avoid being part of the many that get caught up the wrong things or spend too much time in the wrong areas. Make your plan, stay focused, and you will inevitably increase your odds of success.
