Master Your Time and Master Your Money
Managing your money and managing your time are very similar. Both leave you feeling like you don’t have enough and leave you wondering “Where did it all go?” At the end of the day, you wonder where the time went and how you spent it. At the end of the month, you wonder the same thing about your money.
If you can learn how to manage one, you can transfer those skills to managing the other. Here are a few ways that managing money is like managing time and how you can master both:
When you manage it well, there’s more of it.
Successfully managing your money requires a budget, one that you can work with weekly and monthly to stay on top of your spending and saving and track your income. Managing your time is similar. Using a calendar or task list to stay on top of what needs to be done and what you’ve accomplished will help you stay productive. Using a budget for your money and calendar for your time will help you successfully manage both.
There are limitations.
There are only so many hours in the day so you have to use them to the best benefit. Wasting them means you’re not as productive. The same goes for money. While you do continually replenish your money with new earnings, there is a limit to how much you currently have. Wasting it on things you don’t really need leaves less of it for the things you do.
Prioritizing helps stretch it further.
Prioritizing both your tasks and your spending allows you to accomplish more with what you have. Instead of just doing or spending without a purpose, prioritize what matters most so you feel better about how you spent both time and money.
Planning is a must.
If you’ve ever lost track of time or that $20 you withdrew from the ATM yesterday, you know that if you don’t plan you’ll end up wasting. Have a plan each day for how you will spend your time and your money so you don’t find they slipped away.
Write it down.
Our brains are overloaded every day with tons of information to remember. Make sure you don’t forget something important by writing it down. Keep a task list of things you need to accomplish each day and make a list of all bills you need to pay with your next paycheck. Make the things on your list a top priority and get them done first, before anything else.
Have focus.
Know your goals, both for your time and your money. Creating goals and staying focused on the end result you want to accomplish will make it easier to stay on track. This will also help you prioritize what matters most.
Review and adjust.
Continually reviewing how you spend your time and your money as necessary to make sure it’s working for you. If it’s not, you can make adjustments to your budget or your schedule until you find the plan that fits just right.
Managing your money and managing your time have a lot of similarities. If you’re able to be successful at one, carry those habits over to the other for even greater success.
Union Plus Credit Counseling
Union members can get a no-obligation money and credit assessment from certified, experienced consumer credit counselors though Union Plus Credit Counseling. Powered by the non-profit Money Management International (MMI), your free session will cover a complete financial review, assistance in budgeting, advice for working with creditors, and more.