Today is my dad’s birthday and I do want to take time to recognize him for not only who he is as my father but concerning his love for efficiency. He would always boast for his love of efficiency and was excellent at getting many things done. I can definitely speak for how efficiency minded he is and I had gladly followed in his footsteps regarding efficiency.
it is also that time of year again, time for spring cleaning! This is a perfect time of year to take inventory of every area of our lives and how they relate to our productivity. Last week I mentioned the benefits of being financially organized and how that can save us time. While being on that note, I will kick of the spring cleaning series for this year with spring cleaning for our finances.
Your question may be how does this relate to productivity?
For the quickest answer, read my previous post about being financially organized. You will see all of the ways that being financially organized will save you time...and money. With spring approaching, it is an excellent time to get organized and get on track to doing things the best way possible. Below you will see ways that you can set up a plan for financial spring cleaning
Evaluate your budget. If you do not have a budget, make one. Next step is to make sure you are actually following it. If you have been following a budget for a while, it may be time to do a bit of spring cleaning with it. Check to see if the categories and the amounts still make sense. Life changes all of the time, so doing this regularly is recommended.
Be clear on your financial goals. Ultimately time is money, therefore get your money in order so you can have the time you need to do what you need to do. When you have a clear financial goal, you are able to decide how to use your time and make the most of it to maximize the money that you can user for the future.
Make the best of your current situation. Take inventory of your current situation and make the best of it. If you are not where you are financially when you want to be, you can be eventually by maximizing the use of your time. This will look differently for each person and will be highly personalized based on your situation on how the details would look.
Eliminate time and money sucks. We all have time stuff that either costs us more time than we should be spending and more money than we should be spending. It can very well be the same thing. This is where revisiting our financial and time priorities regularly to make sure we are on the right track with our goals. Spring time is a great time to do this as we are excited about the change of seasons and the freshness that comes with the season.
Develop a new spending/saving strategy. Finding a spending and saving strategy is a great exercise for both your money and time. You have to spend time and you have to spend money. It is best to find a way to get a return of some kind when you spend something. The most obvious example is when you spend time to work and you make money. They can work interchangeably or also like credit card rewards where you are rewarded money for spending money. The bottom line is to consider how any transaction will net you in both terms of time and money.
Time and money have a strong relationship with each other. They are so frequently used interchangeably that we should always consider them together. You can be rich in time, but poor in money, or the other way around. You can also be rich or poor in both. Observing the relationship that time has with money is important to helping you manage your resources.