How To Budget Your Time Well

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It is not uncommon for people to lament the fact that there are "so few hours in the day," complaining that they could get more done if they had more time. But if most of these people examined the ways in which they spend their days, they would realize that their complaints are unfounded. In fact, it would be a shocking realization for most people to recognize how many minutes they fritter away throughout the day, leaving them in a position at the end of the day where they ask where the day went. Keeping track of what you do during the day is the best way to start budgeting your time well, and budgeting your time well is the best way to solve this problem.

Unlike keeping a budget for money, it is not always possible to write down every single thing you "spent your minutes" on throughout the day. But you should nevertheless carry a notebook around with you when you first start your time budget, writing down - as best you can - how you are spending all your time. About a week later, you should thumb back through the notebook and add up the minutes, seeing where all these wasted minutes become wasted hours!

Once you come to grips with the fact that you are wasting a lot of time on unnecessary things, you can decide where you want this extra time to go instead. This is a part that you definitely should treat like a money budget, figuring out how you will be happiest "spending" your minutes. It makes it easiest to apply these minutes somewhere if you have some sort of goal in mind, as you can work toward this goal.

Make sure you leave enough of a cushion when you create your time budget that it does not start putting you in a position where you feel stressed. It will not always be easy at first to follow the budget you have set for yourself, but as time passes, you will settle deeper and deeper into a routine of productivity. And then, you can thumb through that old notebook again, and you can be truly amazed by the amount of time you used to spend on pointless things!