Budget Your Time

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode Challenge – Day 3: Budget Your Time

In order to stay focused on the best things, you need to be sure you are purposefully managing your time. This means you need to map out a regular routine. I know, I know. This doesn’t sound as glamorous as going with the flow and being spontaneous. It might even sound boring. But until you have a solid idea of how you spend your time—and learn how to do it purposefully—you’ll spend your life simply surviving. Routines allow you to get your life in order so you can start living your days with purpose.

If schedules stress you out, don’t worry. What we’re doing isn’t complicated or overly structured. It won’t even be minute-by-minute, unless you really, really want to do that. In fact, I encourage you not to. Strict schedules usually set you up for failure. I learned this the hard way. I’d make these elaborate schedules and I’d get so flustered because I’d crammed them so full that the whole day was thrown off whack with just one or two little interruptions. So keep it simple. Instead, stick with a flexible routine.


Today’s Challenge
I want you to create your ideal morning routine. If you don’t have any structure in your life right now, this one action will make a big difference in how you approach each day. Take some time right now to write down the five things you need and want to do each morning. Things like exercise, read and pray, clean up the kitchen, wake and feed the kids breakfast, and prepare lunches or even dinner.

Think about how much time you will realistically need. Whatever those five things are, commit to getting up and doing them first thing tomorrow and then consistently for three weeks. Put your plan somewhere you can see it so you can keep track of your time and what you need to do. You may need to adjust what time you wake up to accommodate your morning routine, so think about that tonight and if you need to, get to bed earlier.

Take back your morning and see firsthand the difference it will make in your day!

You can sign up for the Challenge at the link in the picture.

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Ok, so I'm working on this Challenge, just like I told you I would.  But I am modifying it a bit. I'm going to work on an item a week, instead of an item a day.

Here is Day 1 (or Week 1).

Here is Day 2 (or Week 2) with my results from Day 1.

So I planned on taking 10 minutes a day and list those things I am good at, as well as ask others.  I didn't take 10 minutes each day, but I did think about it several times a day.  I did link the post to my personal Facebook page and a few friends responded.

Some of the items I came up with: being able to explain Word and Excel functions over the phone, learning by reading, couponing.  Here are some that others came up with: inspiring others, being an advocate.

Oh yeah - I'm still making my lists from Day 1.

Come back next week to see how I did with Day 3!