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Donโt know how many of you budget your money, but as I was thinking about finding balance & managing time, I realized how many parallels there are between budgeting money & budgeting time & I noted some important lessons we can learn from these comparisons.
Just as budgeting & planning your money is key to finding financial freedom, so budgeting & planning our time is key to finding freedom & balance in our lives โ and using time wisely is what makes us truly rich. Rich in fun, rich in relationships, and rich in enjoyment of all God has given us.
So whether or not you actually budget your money, I think we can all benefit from learning how to wisely budget our time. (and as a side note, if you donโt budget, you can probably also benefit from learning that, too.)
5 Keys to Budgetย Your Time Wisely:
- Spend your time on paper first.
The point of creating a financial budget is to plan ahead of time where youโre going to spend your money. You, in essence, spend it on paper before you actually spend it in real life. This keeps you from making (potentially foolish) impulse purchases. And it also frees you to enjoy what you do purchase without feeling guilty (because you know it was part of the plan & isnโt going to keep you from being able to pay the rent next month).The same principle is true with our time. Now we donโt need to literally plan every minute of it, but the goal is to PLAN instead of just letting it happen. What would happen if you started planning the big picture things like when you will work & when you will simply be present with your family? Itโs a whole lot easier to walk away from your work when you know youโre following a plan than when you keep thinking โI just need to get done one more thing.โSide note: As youโre developing your plan, realize that there will always be something else to do, just like there will always be something else youโd like to buy. The point is that when you spend your time (or money) on paper, you have a clear head to look at all your priorities, not just what seems important in the moment. - Plan for the unexpected.
When someone first learns to budget money, he might set up a plan based on his normal bills and spending habits. This works for a while, but when an unexpected car repair or medical bill shows up, the whole plan can be easily derailed. What an experienced budgeter knows is that itโs wise to plan for the unexpected โ to set aside money each month for future car repairs, bills, or surprise expenses. That way, when the unexpected comes, itโs not as big of a deal.Now itโd be nice if we could save up extra time for when we need it, but it just doesnโt quite work that way. But that doesnโt mean we shouldnโt plan for the unexpected. When weโre scheduling our time, we should create margin โ space – whenever possible. That way when things come up, itโs a little easier to find time to deal with them. If we have every minute jam-packed with activities, weโre basically planning to have problems. - Roll with the punches.
Wise budgeters know that their plan is going to be derailed, so they donโt let it throw them off. Instead, they just roll with it. The electric bill was more than we thought? Okay, weโll just pull that money from the clothing fund. Car repair cost more than we had saved up? Well, thatโs why we have an emergency fund.
This same roll-with-the-punches attitude is just as essential when budgeting our time. ย We have to realize that things are going to come up & sometimes our built-in margin still isnโt enough to cover it. When that happens, donโt let it throw you completely off. Instead, pause and move around your plan (intentionally) to create a new one that will work.Note: Not rolling with the punches is a big reason people quit budgeting their money & it can also be a reason people give up on trying to schedule their time. Donโt let it throw you. Expect it, adjust, and move on. - Get ahead.
Living paycheck to paycheck stinks. So does barely finishing each task the minute before itโs due. When youโre working on something that has to be done within the hour, youโre going to be stressed. But when youโre working on something for next week, not as much. So try to batch projects and work ahead whenever possible.
Now obviously this is easier said than done. But if you were trying to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle financially, youโd tighten up your budget & build in that extra reserve. The same thing is true with your time. If you want to plan ahead, you have to schedule time for that purpose. (And believe me, youโll be glad you did.)
ย - Invest in what matters.
When we invest money, sometimes it seems like itโs not doing anything โ itโs just gone from our account into a nebulous IRA that weโll use in what seems like an eternity. But that investment is important, even if itโs not urgent.
The same is true with our time. We need to invest our time into what really matters, even if itโs not urgent at the time. That means connecting with students, spending time with family, and working to impact eternity.
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We hope these mindset shifts help reduce your stress and overwhelm. For more, join us in our free training: 5 Time-Saving Practices to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed. I firmly believe you can be an amazing teacher and do it in a reasonable amount of time. Let me show you HOW in this free training.