Think of time, talent, and treasure as the currencies we all use to get things done. This framework allows us to think critically about how we’re using the resources available to us at any given moment. Together, time, talent, and treasure form a currency worth more than money.

I first learned about time, talent, and treasure mid-career. At the time, my job was to cultivate relationships with a nonprofit’s corporate sponsors. Some of those sponsors donated volunteer hours (time). Others contributed special skills (talent). Most contributed cash (treasure).

I often introduce this concept to my business students as they learn how to strategically implement digital marketing. On the job, they’ll need to know how to budget for every element of each campaign, from video editing to social media analytics and much more. Deciding whether to take photos with a staff member’s mobile phone (using available time) or to hire a professional photographer (spending treasure) is a juggling act for every marketing team. Time, talent, and treasure becomes a helpful lens that applies to organizations of all sizes, from that of the solo entrepreneur to that of a large corporation.

I also apply this in my everyday life. My family and I only have so many hours, so many skills, and so much money to run our household. Sometimes, our individual priorities are different so how we spend our time, talents, and treasures requires some extra negotiation.

The Time, Talent, and Treasure Trifecta

Ideally, every household, or every company has access to all the resources it needs. In practice, we all have to prioritize and plan around limited resources. Figuring out the winning combination of resources creates the perfect trifecta.

What about time?

Time is a finite commodity. We each have 86,400 seconds (that’s 24 hours) to spend every day. Only a portion of that is spent working. We’ve also got to budget time for sleep, meals, exercise, and leisure.

The more people on your team, the more time you have. At home, my family of three has less time available than a family of six. But then, the more people you have, the more laundry to do!

At work, the available hours vary depending on the size of your team. The solopreneur has to do it all, while a larger company will assign tasks to specific employees.. A marketing coordinator might take on blog writing while a marketing intern looks after podcast editing.

If you work at home, your available time is stretched between family tasks and work tasks. That juggle isn’t always easy. Time limits impact us all.

Who has talent?

Talent is about skills and know-how. At home and at work, people have different talents. For example, I know how to do the laundry but, in our household, my husband takes care of this weekly task. Meanwhile, our teenage son is on a learning curve in the laundry room!

Sometimes tasks fall to the person with the talent even if they hate the task at hand. At work, you may have a colleague who excels at digital decluttering even though they detest file management. Work has to be done even if someone’s talent means they get the dirty jobs.

My content planning students learn a wide range of digital marketing skills from developing audience profiles to analyzing metrics. I constantly encourage them to practice content-related skills while they are students. Those hired right after graduation are often those who experimented with text editing, photo editing, video editing, audio editing, and more.

While learning at leisure is much less stressful than learning on the job, ongoing professional development enhances the talents available to any team. Everyone can learn something new.

Intermixed with hands-on skills are supporting talents. Some are technical, like those of the helpful folks in the IT department. Others are soft skills or more informal roles such as team leadership, morale boosters, or mentors. These skills show up at work and at home. They are wonderful talents to have.

Treasure hunt

As Jerry Maguire said, “Show me the money!” Think of money as treasure.

Everything we do has a potential cost. If we take on a task ourselves, we spend money on tools to complete the task. If we’re short on time to complete a task, we hire help. If we don’t know how to do something, we hire more help or invest in training to learn how.

At home, our treasure is the total take-home pay, savings, and borrowing power we have available to us. We spend our treasure on groceries, transportation, clothes, entertainment, and so on.

At work, investments and revenue are spent on people, services, space, and equipment. That expenditure is our outlay before we consider the costs to produce goods or services. For example, staff cost money in salaries, benefits, perks, and office space. Services are an expense as well. For example, there’s no such thing as free internet so, at a minimum, you’ll pay an internet service provider.

Equipment needs may be capital costs but they add up, too. Computers, software, cameras, microphones, tripods, and more are all expenses. Tools are an ongoing cost, often with a fee to pay monthly or annually. These might include a social sharing dashboard, analytics monitoring, graphic design apps, and other services.

Time, Talent, and Treasure Budgets

With limits on time, talent, and treasure, everyone has to think about where to spend their available resources and where to conserve.

Some things can only be obtained with cash. You’ve got to buy those things first.

Everyone has different talents. Play to your strengths. Learn what you can. Share what you know.

Time is finite. Spend yours to maximum effect. Don’t forget rest!

What To Do When Resources Are Scarce

We’re all short of resources sometimes.

At home, we may have unexpected expenses or an ever-growing grocery bill. (Did I mention I have a teenage son?)

Workwise, the size of the company influences the volume of available resources. Often, employees are asked to do extra tasks on unpaid time to fill the void. (This is a problem to discuss another day.)

Tough decisions have to be made. Sometimes, we’ll compromise quality. Other times, we’ll postpone a project. When needed or desired, we’ll seek out extra time, talent, and treasure.

Even when resources are limited, tasks at home and at work still need to be done. Using the time, talent, and treasure framework we can decide how best to spend the resources we have for maximum effect.