I was thinking about budgets the other day. I believe we budget everything even if we don't realize it. Money is obvious, right? But our time and space can be a little tricky. We're going to look at time today, hopefully we find a way to maximize our budget for it. Maybe this post should be called efficiency? IDK let's jump in!

   I have 24 hours in a day just like everyone else-so why is it it seems like I get so much more done than some people and so much less than others? I have a family member who can run around all day and get absolutely nothing done. There's several people I know like this.  One thing that sticks out in my mind is that they are all very disorganized. The other is the excuses. The excuses are constant. On the flip side I've got a good friend who seems to accomplish superhuman amounts of stuff in a day. Me? Eh I fall somewhere in the middle. I want to be more like my friend. She is also the queen of looking gorgeous while scrubbing the toilet so there's also that. 

   #1. Organization. Organizing time can be difficult. I can't predict what the traffic is going to be if I've got outside errands to run. I also can't always stick to an ironclad schedule. You really never know what's going to come up. So I've come to the conclusion that if I budget my time the way I would triage in the ER that at least the most important things get accomplished. So triage-most important to least important, then you put time limits or estimates on most things and  "outsource" everything possible, either what I really don't enjoy or what makes the most sense to. 

   Let's say you have 3 things you want to get done today. Clean the house, visit with someone important to you and grocery shop. If you've got no food in your house obviously grocery shopping is going to be #1. Most places have grocery delivery that is pretty reasonably priced. So let's apply our triage, time limit and outsourcing to this! I'm going to spend less than 1 hour doing my online (grocery) shopping and scheduling a delivery. After I'm done with my shopping, cleaning and visiting are going to be a fight for #2. I hate to clean and I love to visit... But it makes more sense to clean my house while I wait for my groceries doesn't it? I'm basically accomplishing 2 things at once. So there's my plan. Clean the house then put my groceries away. Then I get to go spend some time with them or invite my loved one to my nicely cleaned home. And there you have it. Triaged, timed and organized. This isn't to say that cleaning your house is more important than visiting with a friend, sometimes that cup of coffee or glass of wine will save your sanity. Just don't let it be an excuse to not get something done. It's easy to make excuses to avoid the things you dislike or to put a higher priority on things you do like. I'm one of the few people I know who actually enjoys grocery shopping. But in my example I outsourced my liked activity because it made the most sense to. Which brings us to our next point

   #2. Excuses. We've all got them. And we've all heard them. How can we avoid making excuses to ourselves to avoid a disliked activity? I have no idea. Please let me know if you do! But I know that when I really think about my excuse I can usually find the flaws and shut it down. It'll cross my mind, I'll think about it, figure out its just an excuse to avoid something and then-the most important part-get my butt up and do what needs to be done. The reward is in the follow through. I've told my kids this since they were tiny. There's always a solution, you just have to find it! Which brings us to our conclusion

   Don't be like the disorganized people I know with a million excuses, be like my friend- she gets everything done and looks gorgeous doing it.

                                         -C-