Time Management Tools: So You Can Do More

time managementDeveloping time management tools are key in your professional life, personal life, and just to keep your sanity in the crazy of it all.

Almost everyone has felt at some point that there wasn’t enough time to get it all done.  If only you could have just 2 more hours in your day.  You could get your to-do list done, have more time to spend with family, cook more homemade meals, and sleep the recommended eight hours a night.

However learning time management tools will help you achieve more in just 24 hours. The first thing you have to do is give your time a monetary value.  They say time is priceless, invaluable if you will.  But if you do not know how much your time is worth then it is easy to let the unimportant tasks consume your day.  The value can be whatever you want or feel is appropriate.  For me, my day job bills my time out at $100 per hour.  Now that might be way too much for my personal time, but that’s what I am use to so that is what I use.

After you have valued your time then decide how much you are willing to “pay” for each activity that you want to do.  Is hand wrapping Christmas gifts worth an hour of your time over putting everything in a bag with tissue or paying someone $5 to wrap the gift for you.  Now do not get me wrong, I love living a frugal life.  I like to save my money and spend it wisely.  However, the time I could be wrapping gifts is time I could be spending writing a freelance article that will pay me money.  That’s how you have to look at your time.

I tend to work on merelynne.com during the evenings, after J has gone to bed and it’s just me with the two pups sitting downstairs.  For me that time of day is my discounted rate.  I can’t do too many other activities at 10pm.  J is in bed, most businesses are closed, and my friends are at home with their families.  Therefore, it’s perfect to spend an hour or two pouring over articles to learn how to grow my little blog.

Next, I work a day job from 8-5 so that time is pretty valuable.  Because if I am taking off work to do something else than I am missing out on my pay.  This activity that requires to be done between 8-5 better be worth it.  It takes a lot for me to miss out on actual money.

Finally, early mornings are the worst for me.  I am not a morning person. At. All.  I despise the mornings.  I mean the idea of getting up to go to the gym early in the morning is similar to going to get a root canal.  It’s just not worth it.  That means that if I am having to get up before the sun rise then it better be one of the most important tasks.

Driving to see my family is one thing I will get up early for.  Taking the dogs to vet.  Spending time with J.  You may notice a trend here.  Morning tasks are usually strictly saved for family.

Time management tools are important to have.  When you value your time and then value your tasks you will see what is important and what can be done at another time.  Next up on the time management series we are going to talk about getting organized.  If you’re just joining in on the time management tools series then you can read the first post here to learn all about it.

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Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®, a budget and financial strategist helping families pay off debt and live the life they've always wanted.

2 thoughts on “Time Management Tools: So You Can Do More

  1. Great post. I love how you mentioned that you generally think of your time as worth as much as it gets billed for at work. I’d never really considered that before.

    Just stopping by from the Grow Your Blog link up at One Chocolate Box!

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