Global investor Jim Rogers' best advice for time management

Forty years ago, legendary United States investor Jim Rogers stopped wearing a watch and silenced his alarm clock - for good. "I realised I was a slave to my watch, so one day I just took it off and put it in a drawer," he says. "I've never worn one since. Also, I got rid of my alarm clock because I knew that the best thing was to be rested and not to wake up tired."

Rogers says he has developed a reliable body clock that wakes him up every day in time to accompany his two daughters to school, by bicycle. It is not an entirely foolproof method, he admits. "Of course, if I have been out dancing until 2am, my body clock isn't quite as effective."

Not wearing a watch has certainly not hindered his career. Rogers became famous after co-founding the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1973. He retired as a multimillionaire at age 37. Today, at 70 and with an estimated US$300 million in assets, Rogers is fulfilling what he says has been his most important job yet - being a father. "I used to think kids were a terrible waste of time, energy and money. But it just so happened I was wrong, and I came to it far too late," he says. "These two little girls have been the best investment of my life."

But what he has missed in time he is making up for in enthusiasm, in true dedicated Rogers style. His daughters, Hilton Augusta (known as Happy) and Beeland Anderson, are ages 10 and five, but already Happy speaks Putonghua, recently winning an award for her fluency. Rogers has also written a book dedicated to the girls, whom he had with third wife Paige Parker.

It was Rogers' concern for his children's future, combined with his certainty in the global shift of power from West to East, that saw the family pull up roots from Manhattan and move to Singapore six years ago. "The best gift we can give our children is to have them learn Chinese fluently," Rogers says. "It's advice I would give everyone."

As the man described as the "Indiana Jones of finance" for his spirit of adventure as much as his success rate, Rogers' advice is worth something. After retiring, he rode a motorcycle around the world, entering the and later authoring a bestselling book about his exploits, . In 1999, he repeated the trip with Parker, touring a customised bright yellow Mercedes through 116 countries.