Time Management

Money isn’t the only thing that seems to be disappearing into thin air!

We’ve all heard about keeping a budget of what you spend your money on, and GoBelieve has many great resources all about money management. However, in order to lead a fulfilling and healthy life, there is another area of your life you should organize- your time. Creating a time budget means “proactively allocating shares of time for the things that matter to you.” Budgeting your time and money have many of the same benefits. Both time and money can be invested into sources that bring about a return on investment, or ROI. An ROI measures “the benefit an investor will receive in relation to their investment cost.” When you invest money, the goal is to end up with more money than you initially invested. When you invest your time in activities like education, friendships, or exercise, your ROI is a happier, healthier, less stressful, and more productive lifestyle. As you manage your time more wisely, you will find that you wasted quite a bit of time on activities that won’t bring long-term growth or happiness.

Often when people hear about time management they imagine a life devoid of fun with no social media, no weekends full of Netflix, and no outings with friends. However, all those things can and should exist in a properly budgeted life! Good things come in moderation. Spending 7 hours a day scrolling through social media will leave your Screen Time app overwhelmed and your mind feeling soggy and unproductive. Research suggests excessive use of social media leads to loneliness, depression, and anxiety. One group of students studied by psychologists limited their social media use to 30 minutes a day and found undeniable improvements in their mental wellness compared to students who spent hours and hours scrolling their feeds. When planning your budget, decide ahead of time how long you will spend on social media per day. Limit yourself, and then stick with your plan! It will be hard at first, but you will be thankful you chose to spend less time online. Another way to use a time budget is in school or work. Procrastination gets to the best of us, but a time budget will help you spend a little time each day on big, overwhelming projects. Start early enough so you don’t have to finish the paper or study for the test all in one sitting. Your work will be higher quality and you won’t feel nearly as overwhelmed. As you cut out unnecessary time-wasters in your life, you will find you have much more time to spend with friends and family. Maybe you’ll even find time to use that gym membership you swore you would use every day!