TIME IS MONEY

Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely” ~ Kay Lyons

If time is money, then everyone is in debt. ~ Dutch saying

We get 86,400 seconds each day. Instead of the number of seconds in your day, what if that was the number of dollars in your bank account? How would you spend them? Would you invest your money wisely, or would you squander it? Would you share it, or let anyone else tell you how to spend it?

It’s time we start thinking about time in the same way – as a valuable, consumable resource. When we begin thinking about time in this way, we realize several things about our “spending habits.”

• We often let friends and acquaintances determine how our time is spent.
  
• We make impulse buys, without considering the trade-offs.
  
• We sometimes don’t hold ourselves accountable for our “purchases.”

Our calendar, like our checkbook, speaks volumes about what we value. Having committed to a few important goals, we can determine the best way to spend our time and/or money. (In an earlier post, I mentioned that without knowing our goals, we have no way of judging the way we spend our time.) The question then becomes very simple: is this purchase in line with my goals? Does it take me closer to, or farther from, the results I want?

Before we consider all the choices we could be making, we need to become aware of our current “spending habits.” What are you buying? Do you really know the amount of each purchase? Is it a planned, worthwhile investment, or an ill-considered impulse buy?

We can’t make more time, we can only make trades in the way we spend it. So we need to know what we’re willing to bargain: what we’re willing to give up, and how much we’re willing to pay to reach our goals.

Your charge this week is to keep a time log. I know it sounds tedious, and it is. Nevertheless, it is the only way to get a true picture of how you spend your time now. Just keep it for seven days. This isn’t rocket science – it’s simply putting pen to paper, noting the time whenever you start doing something new. Be honest! If you take 10 minutes to chat about the game last night, write it down!

This is not the time to evaluate, only to record. There will be time later to evaluate. And the best part is, you’ll be the only judge.

(Time really is money! Click on the picture to read the findings of a British professor.)

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. ~ Carl Sandburg