Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of clients who desire to have more time, or to be more efficient with their limited time, to hold better boundaries, to reduce burnout, and keep their focus on their priorities that actually move them forward towards their goals.

We can always create more money, but time belongs to God. Therefore, we must be wise stewards of this precious resource.

I find doing a Time Budget 3-4 times a year can help clarify where my focus and efforts should be and really strengthens my ability to say “yes” or “no” to a myriad of opportunities that come with each day.

How to do a Time Budget:

You have 24 hours in a day and you deduct your entire day from those baseline hours.

Example:

8 hours for sleep

3 hours a day for preparing & cooking, eating meals, clean up, personal care, errands, chores

8-12 hours of work, either with clients, projects, studies, and around the house

You can see that I’ve already used 19-23 hours of my day! And that is before I put in slots for exercising, working in the garden, reading, relaxing, time with family or friends, serving in my community, having fun, or tackling an extra project.

You can layer in other activities such as listening to a book while you work out or cook.

Different days of the week may have a different time allocation.

It helps me be more efficient with my work or to reduce my work hours, to be very firm about my priorities, and not get overloaded. Really quickly you realize that you may be saying “yes” to way too many things. This can lead to burnout and resentment, which is NOT freedom!

It can highlight that you are watching too much television or social media. It’s easy to waste 2-8 hours a day on media! Yes, several of these areas you can multi-task or layer, but multi-tasking can actually contribute to burnout and actually make you LESS efficient because your focus is diverted.

You can also determine whether your “time budget” reflects your personal and family’s chosen values and priorities as well as it’s effect on your monetary budget.

Be wise about what you are allocating time for! Your time is a precious gift from God. Use it wisely!