Time Budgeting - 5 Tips to Manage Your Time

Time budgeting is an essential component of effective time management. What good would it do to know what you have to do but have no time planned to actually do it?

Too often we leave things to chance. Only chance isn't any more effective at handling things competently than we are.

So what's the solution? Above all, we need to be conscious of what we are doing, what we need to do and what we've already done. You can find articles featuring tips, tricks, strategies, and techniques galore. And every one of them will work...if put to use.

With that being said, I'd like to share 5 of my absolute favorites (in no particular order).

Tackle chores while they are still small--You would be shocked if you really think about how quickly the scrubbing bubbles can take care of that bathtub versus renting a jackhammer or worse...scrubbing with a magic eraser. That is entirely too much work and I am way too lazy!

Think about what you need to do and plan accordingly--This is not brain surgery folks. Really. A quick example is getting gas. The store I usually get my gas from has quite a morning crowd at that time. Even though it has 8 pumps there is still sometimes a line at each pump. The thinking ahead mentality has me filling up at night when they are not so busy. A bonus is that if I'm also getting a fountain refill (a great money saver) many times because of the gas fill-up, I will receive my drink refill for free. Pretty cool, huh?

Shop at off-hours--Parking is better, kids are at home in bed, less crowds, sometimes some pretty cool specials due to the late hour (Winn-Dixie used to package up their unsold donuts in bags at a cheap...and I do mean cheap...price).

Cook smart--One word...Crockpot. Actually, that may be 2 words...Crock pot. That's OK, because that is such a cool tip it bears repeating. Crock pot cooking is the best. Get a few cookbooks and have at it. See if your family minds all that time you save by not slaving over a hot stove.

Find your productive time and milk those hours for all they are worth--This is seriously more than just a time saving tip. Think how good you'll feel when you are getting so much done. Your house is cleaner, your school work is completed, your laundry is caught up. Life is seriously good.

So there you have a few of my many secrets of time budgeting. 5 tips to manage your time is of course only scratching the surface, but they may just be the 1, 3 or even 5 special tips that will turn your life around.

You know, we only have one life and only so much time in which to live that one life. Why not learn all we can about living it to the fullest. Too, we have our children under our proverbial "wing" for only so long. We need to concentrate on making memories with those children that will be with them for the rest of their lives. In general we should be making as much time available for those (people and things) that matter the most to us.

About this Author

Want more tips on managing your time better? Download my free ebook about Time Management for some wonderful ideas or visit me at http://www.theremustbeabetterway.net and pick up some more tips, tricks, strategies and techniques.

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