by Lori Milner
If you want to make sure you come out on your monthly salary, you plan and budget accordingly. Why not apply the same thinking to your time and create a time budget? Creating a budget for your spending is not a punishment but a way to give you peace of mind. Managing your day should be the same. Your calendar is your budgeting tool - plan your week before you are in it to allocate sufficient funds to the relevant tasks. The last thing you want is to run out of time and then eat into next week's allocation.
As with money, if you keep borrowing against funds you don't have, you will land up in financial debt. The penalty for not planning your time appropriately is a different currency altogether – it's your precious mental, physical and emotional resources, and the interest is significant.
Invest in a diverse portfolio
You wouldn't only spend your money on one area of your life, so why do you only think about work tasks when allocating your time budget?
Have you ever considered a time wallet for the different aspects of your life:
The term work/life balance suggests we only have two areas of our life, namely work and life. This wheel is a more holistic depiction of who we are.
Consider each area of your life over the last 30 days. Rate how you have invested in each area and if you're in a deficit. If you are underinvesting, it's time to reallocate your funds accordingly. You wouldn't question diversifying your investments, so consider spending time in your different life spheres as a redistribution of wealth.
Outsource to the professionals
When it comes to money management, you don't consider hiring someone to manage your precious resource as a grudge purchase but as an investment in your future. The same principle needs to be applied to specific tasks in your life. What's your hourly rate? Have you ever considered it's overcapitalizing to spend your time doing things you hate that someone else would love to do? Consider a virtual PA to help with admin, tax or even someone to help with school lifts, some housework or take your laundry up the road to the local laundromat? You may need to rework your budget to make this a reality - maybe you need to give up a few meals out to create more time for yourself which is way more valuable and a more significant investment in your happiness.
Embrace boundaries: discipline is freedom
Working to a defined budget does not take away your spending freedom; it creates it. This boundary brings safety, security and comfort.
It's the same with your calendar. Many people fear a schedule and perceive it as something that could take away their freedom and hamper their creativity.This is not the case at all; a schedule provides clarity and a platform for you to take action.If you are constantly waiting for the bolt of inspiration to hit and then take action, you may be waiting a long time.
Creativity is born out of action. Inspiration arrives in the act - when you're running, writing, painting, creating – be it on work or personal goals. Have you ever heard of runners block? No, they schedule the run and show up. Feelings have nothing to do with the decision to go running. If you have been wanting to start a new hobby and waiting for the time to appear magically in your calendar, this is why you are feeling despondent. When you allocate every Thursday at 2 pm, you have substituted the need for motivation with clarity.
You no longer have to wait to feel like doing it – this is your opportunity to make it happen. It is in the doing that the magic appears. As author Chase Jarvis says:
'You have to do the verb to become the noun’.
Final thoughts
Time is money. You will increase its value exponentially when you treat both resources the same way with careful planning and boundary management.
Create a time budget
Invest in a diverse portfolio
Outsource to the professionals
Embrace boundaries
"In the beginning of your career, you spend time to earn money. Once you hit your stride in any capacity, you should spend money to earn time" – Timothy Ferriss.
Warm wishes
Lori
Lori Milner is the engaging facilitator, thought leader and mentor known for her insightful approach to being a modern corporate woman. Her brainchild, the successful initiative Beyond the Dress, is the embodiment of her passion to empower women. Beyond the Dress has worked with South Africa’s leading corporates and empowered hundreds of women with valuable insight on how to bridge the gap between work and personal life. Clients include Siemens, Massmart, Alexander Forbes, Life Healthcare Group, RMB Private Bank and Unilever to name a few. Lori has co-authored Own Your Space: The Toolkit for the Working Woman in conjunction with Nadia Bilchik, CNN Editorial Producer. Own Your Space provides practical tools and insights gleaned from workshops held around the world and from interviews with some of South Africa’s most accomplished women to provide you with tried-and-tested techniques, tips and advice to help you boost your career, enhance your confidence and truly own your space on every level. Own Your Space is the ultimate ‘toolkit’ to unleash your true power. It’s for the woman who wants to take her career to new heights and who is ready to fulfil her true potential.
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