Expenditures, Part 1

There are several quotes in English comparing Time and Money. Three of my favorites are:

"Time is money." -Benjamin Franklin
"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." -Carl Sandburg
"Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life." -Michael LeBoeuf

Taking the first quote in mind, it becomes evident that both time and money need to be budgeted. As one of my goals for 2013, I have decided to attempt to better manage my time, and therefore I have decided to embark on an experiment over the next few weeks. I am going to keep track of my time, how and where I spend it, as I would if I were reviewing my budget. My goal is to find two things:

1. How am I actually spending my time; and
2. When can I afford to go out to get more 'me' time, to exercise more and find more time to work on my writing, and maybe, by chance, somehow begin to look into dating. Possibly.

With money, there are certain expenditures we CANNOT ignore; bills, food, etc. And with time, there are certain time expenditures we CANNOT ignore. Sleep and time spent at work come to mind here, unless one is wealthy enough to not need to work or has retired. I am hoping to eventually streamline my time to get everything accomplished I need to in order to enjoy life more and maybe, just maybe, find someone to date, provided I conquer those fears as well.

As I begin to look at these Time Expenses, I see them in the following categories: Work, Home, Family, Writing and Personal, and I define them as such:

• Work: Anything work related whether at school or not. This would include commute time; actual time at school delivering lessons; planning lessons, prepping for lessons, or grading papers whether at school or home; conferencing with students, parents, colleagues, administrators, etc. and any other school related duties as they relate to my other-duties-as-assigned-or-volunteered for.
• Home: Anything involved in cleaning, maintenance, upkeep, repair, or decorating the home and garden.
• Family: Anything involving my dog and cat, including play time, giving them attention, feeding, care, bonding, cleaning up after them, etc.,  and vet visits.
• Writing: Anything involving my writing, including blogging about my own or reviewing a friend's writing, networking on Twitter, or my Facebook author page, or promoting my novel or any upcoming works.
• Personal: Anything just for me where none of the other areas are directly involved. This might include; going out with friends, chatting online or the phone, just surfing the internet, playing on line games, counseling/meditation, just sitting enjoying a cup of tea or coffee, watching a program on the iPad, or reading.

As with money, there are unexpected events, such as assisting a friend in an urgent situation, emergency car repair, vet or doctor visits, home repairs. And those will definitely toss a wrench into the mix creating a lot of havoc, if we let it.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

 To be continued......

For more quotes on time, click HERE.