We’ve all heard that time is our most valuable currency, but how do we align our actions to reflect this truth? How many of us are wasting valuable time in our personal lives simply because we are not planning and allocating it correctly? My husband and I have both taken Dave Ramsey’s course on Financial Peace, and we’ve learned all about budgeting our money, but are quickly realizing that shouldn’t we have a similar plan in order to budget our time if it is even more valuable?
Delyn and I are very different when it comes to planning. He rolls with the punches, likes adventure, and leaves room for spontaneity. I want to know exactly what we are doing and when we are doing it down to the minute. After all, I need to know what to wear, when to be ready, what I’m going to eat, and how much time that leaves me to do everything else on my task list, etc. Dave has a simple principle about “telling your money where to go”. I like “telling my time where to go” so it doesn’t slip away from me. Every minute unplanned could be a minute wasted. Even rest can be planned. And it is in my world. Please, please, please… don’t confuse my words and think that I’m saying that time spent resting or relaxing is necessarily considered wasted time. In fact, my husband’s one request was that I stress the importance of leaving some room for spontaneity, so you better believe I’ll touch base on that a bit later. I simply believe that we should steward over our time the same way we steward over our finances, this way we can maximize our time on the fun stuff and still make sure we are tending to all our needs. My tendency to plan drives my husband a bit crazy at times, but I think he is starting to see (especially in our busy times) that there is a method to my madness. At least I hope he does!
We’ve also found that as new seasons begin and life events change your routines, we generally find ourselves struggling to find a new normal. Any life event can trigger the need for such shifts—relocation, job or school changes, marriage, even births and deaths. The amount of change in our daily routine after one of these life events often hits us hard and requires some sort of adjustment period. We’re currently in that period. To be honest, I’m still adjusting to a big move. Couple that with my newlywed status and starting a new job, and I’ve just about reached my adjustment limit (if that even existed). I remind myself daily—sometimes multiple times a day—that this adjustment period will come to an end, as it can be hard to see the light when you’re feeling overwhelmed with newness and change. I also have to remind myself how many people out there are WAY busier than I am. Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of the world around you when all the change in your daily life consume you.
Through every new season I’ve come to in life, though, I’ve found the need to reprioritize my time. To thoughtfully and completely consider the implications of what my new responsibilities and commitment look like, and how I can adjust to make time and energy for everything I used to do before the change (or at least a majority of the things I used to do). Because I’ve found that if you let the change rule your life, you can lose sight of the things you used to care about. Jobs, moves, schools, marriage, babies… these major changes are enhancements to your life. We should treat them as just that… enhancements or additions. They bring lots of new responsibilities and commitments, but you have to continue focusing on the things you focused on before the change, otherwise you face the risk of losing yourself. And I know that I can’t afford to lose myself. And neither can you.
So I’ve compiled a list of some principles I am focusing on applying in this time of adjustment in part two of this blog (for those who haven't already given up on my long-winded nature, you're welcome for splitting it up *wink*). I think you’ll find that these principles are fairly universal when it comes to life change, and although the application will change from person to person, the overriding principle is to re-strategize, refocus, and realign yourself with who you were made to be. Stay tuned. And as always, Thanks & Gig 'Em!