Running a Time Audit
Time
It is our most sacred of commodities. Oh, how we long for more of it–thinking we’re just given too few of it in any given day. But is 24 hours in the day really not enough? How do you use yours?
Where does it go?
We make budgets for our money and other resources, rightly so, and likewise it is necessary to do so for our time. We can always make more money or acquire more resources, but time is not so–in the economy of time we are forced to spend it at a steady rate and there are no banks to store it or loans to get more of it. What there is however, are investment opportunities. We do have the power to use our time effectively and make it work for us, just as we do with our money. So, what do you invest your time in?
It is necessary to understand where every last second of our time goes if we are to be effective with it. How we spend our time signifies who we are and what is important to us. Think about it, if something is important enough to you would you not spend any of your 1,440 minutes in the day on it? Or a portion of your 10,080 minutes in the week? We often tell ourselves or others what is important to us and what we value (our ideals) but when it comes down to the numbers it just does not add up. So, put your time where your mouth is and start using it for what is important to you!
Budgeting your time
It is easy to let our time direct us or, even worse, lose it altogether. If we constantly feel as though we do not have enough of it, this is probably the case. Time lost, or spent chasing after more time, are two failsafe ways of living a life void of the time you need to do what you want. Instead, take ownership of your time. Let it be under your control and not the other way around. After running your initial assessment of how you have been allocating your time, it is now time to start budgeting it. This is where you will consider what is actually important enough for you to spend this precious finite commodity on. There are of course obligations in life which we may not want to do but have to do, less we settle down under a bridge. For these obligations, such as work or school, allot to them what is theirs. Now, consider the rest free time; you have paid your time tax. Total it up and start spending! But be careful not to spend it all on one thing. Include a few things in which you would like to invest your time in. These could be in learning, family time, self-reflection, study, or passion projects–to name a few. However you choose to use your time, it is YOUR choice. Take ownership of it. Do not let anyone else tell you how to spend your time, I doubt you would let them spend your money for you…
Planning how to spend your time
Now that you have deemed what is of the utmost importance to you, pencil it into a schedule filling your day with the necessary minutes and hours you have chosen to allocate for each item. Make sure to be generous of the time in between. Remember, to let time slip away without us realizing is one end of the spectrum we don’t want to be on, but we also don’t want to be the time dictator who will not give a single second of it to a cause outside of their budget. Like all things, time is a gift and it should be shared. When an unexpected situation occurs, lend some time for it; you can always fit in the things you planned at a later point–this is why we make sure to leave gaps in our schedule and not plan ourselves out too thin. While taking ownership of our time we never want to lose sight of our values. Instead let your time do your talking for you, where it is there too are you. More on that another day..
Coming up with a time plan
Run a time audit – I know everyone hates doing their taxes but this is necessary so that we don’t continue to pay up more than we need. In order to maximize our time and its benefits we first need to take a look at how we’re using it now. Be honest with yourself and evaluate as big of a span of time that you accurately can. See where you are spending your time consciously and where you are simply losing it.
Get on a budget – you have figured out how much you have (lest your duties and obligations) now figure out where you’d like it to go each day, week, and month. Get rid of all waste and spending on unnecessary things and begin to consider what you really want to invest it in. Set your sights high with it. This is the one shared commodity we are all allotted an equal amount of each day; how we spend it is what sets us apart. Set some long-term goals for yourself that time will need to be invested in each day. Start planning for these “big purchase” items and start “saving” for them now.
Spend! – But remember, always continue evaluating your investments and the return they are bringing. Time is precious, but it is also a gift. Give it generously and never waste what you keep. Make the most of it and you will never be left feeling you were not given enough of it.