BUDGETING YOUR TIME: BEING FRUGAL WITH YOUR DAYS

BUDGETING YOUR TIME

Just like we get the most out of the money we have when we budget and manage it well, the same can be said for our time. There are things we can do to increase the amount of money we bring in so that we can have more to put toward the things we love. Unfortunately, we cannot make more time, so we need to be even more careful with how we use it! If we put some effort into making the most of our time we can often accomplish things that we would have thought were not possible. And just like we might find ways we were wasting money when we really start to track our spending, the same can be said about the time we might be wasting.

Just like we might have to cut some things out of our financial budget to have enough money to spend on the things we value, we may have to do the same thing to excess things in our schedule. This is not something that can be perfected in an instant, just like the budget. But, by starting somewhere and making little changes, you will see that you can probably find some more time in your day to do the things that are important to you. Even if that’s only a little bit of extra time, it will still have an impact on your life.

WHERE TO START

Start by thinking about what is most important to you. What would you like to do more of, but often tell yourself you don’t have time for? Budgeting your time is not to be able to complete as many tasks as possible. It’s about doing what you want to do with your time. You want to feel good about what you did with your day. We have all had those amazing days where we feel great about what we did. I assume we have all had those days too where we felt like we could have made better use of our time. If we are more intentional about what we are doing with our time, we can have more of those days that leave us feeling great.

BE REALISTIC

When you are budgeting what to do with your time it’s important to be realistic or you will definitely be let down by the results. Most of us have a certain amount of time that is going to be taken up by priorities no matter what. So, unless your plan is to become completely irresponsible for the things that are required of you, you will have a limited amount of time to work with. Now that doesn’t mean that you can’t take a look at your responsibilities to see what might be able to be eliminated, delegated, or cut back on. But, if you feel like the responsibilities you have are somewhat reasonable, then you only have the excess time to work with. It’s important to acknowledge the time your responsibilities take so that you can set realistic expectations on when you can fit in your other goals or activities.

PRIORITIZE YOUR TASKS

When we budget our money, we usually have some things in the budget that we know will have to be cut if something more urgent comes up. Maybe if we find out we are spending more money on groceries, we might have to cut out something else to make up the difference. I’m actually trying to figure that one out myself right now! I would guess that many of us have more on our to-do lists than we can ever reasonably accomplish in a reasonable amount of time. So, we must really take the time to think about what is the current priority. Review your to-do list.

Pick the top 2 or 3 things that you would really like to either complete or make progress on that day (depending on how involved the task is). Let the other things go.  Don’t think about them, they remain on your list so they won’t be forgotten. There is nothing we can do to create more time. Keeping those other things on your mind that you are not able to get to just causes stress and often impacts how much focus you devote to the items you chose as your priorities. You have chosen your priorities so stick to them. If something is really bothering you because you are not putting any time into it, then maybe reconsider your priorities.

PLAN TIME FOR REST

We all know that we need to include money in our budgets for doing the things that we enjoy. It’s not just about only paying bills and building up savings. We might include money in the budget for dining out or taking a trip. When we budget our time, we need to make sure we also include time for resting and having fun. While I love to be productive and check things off of my to-do list, I don’t want to spend every minute of each day just being productive. I want to have time to take some time off. By planning how to use your time, you will feel great about taking time to rest because you will know that you devoted time to making progress.

IF YOU HAVE SOME TIME OFF, HAVE A PLAN FOR WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH EACH DAY

It doesn’t have to be a rigid plan, and it doesn’t have to be all about working. It could be going to a park, or going to see a movie. Or maybe it might be reorganizing a closet, or sorting through seasonal clothing. Maybe it’s making some appointments. It could be sitting in a chair and reading for hours. It doesn’t matter what you decide you want to do with your time. But, you want to make sure you are deciding. By deciding what you do with your time, you will feel good about what you got from the day. When we don’t plan what we want to do in a day, whether that be something productive or something restful, we can often end up just kind of wasting the day away doing not much of anything.

TRACK TIME

Sometimes we think certain tasks take more or less time than they actually do. Just like we think we might spend more or less money on certain expenses. By tracking how long it takes to do certain tasks you can better understand how much time you have to work with other things you are trying to fit in. It’s difficult to make adjustments to manage your time better if you don’t really know where it’s going. Of course, we are not going to time everything we do. But, it can be helpful to know how long it takes to do things like load and put away dishes, clean the bathroom, put away laundry, clean a pets cage, and any other recurring tasks that you do on a regular basis. By knowing how long things take, you won’t plan to do 3 hours’ worth of tasks in a 2-hour time slot.

USE BLOCK SCHEDULING

I have also seen a block schedule referred to as “time-blocking”. With block scheduling, you section off your day into time frames and schedule what you will do in those time slots. Don’t get over-ambitious and schedule out every minute with accomplishing goal-related tasks, don’t forget you still need to shower, cook, eat and rest! Block scheduling works well because you can make progress on several things by devoting a period of time each day to what you want to accomplish. You have to have some discipline and stop yourself at the end of the timeslot. The idea is that you will make progress on various things throughout the day.

Keep in mind how your body operates too. I am a morning person.  I don’t want to do anything that requires more than the smallest amount of energy after dinner. So, for me, I don’t have any time frames blocked out in the evening, because I know I won’t do it. I really love block scheduling because I know that I can focus on just what I have planned for the time block I am currently in knowing that anything else that needed to be done today has been assigned to another time slot.

DON’T BE A PERFECTIONIST

You can waste a lot of time trying to get things just right, without a whole lot of extra benefit. Perfectionism also can lead to procrastination. If you are too worried about getting something done perfectly and do not know the way to get it done perfectly you will often just not do it at all. Things don’t have to be perfect. Isn’t it better to have something done not perfectly than to not have it done at all? So, try to just get moving on something rather than wasting time trying to figure out the best way. You can always figure that out as you go.

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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