Ever feel you don’t have enough time? Not enough money?
I’m sure it is a familiar thought. There are lots of things I would like to do “if only I had the time”. I wish I could afford … lots of things.
Thinking about this though I have found there is often enough time to do many of the things we dismiss with this claim. Rather than time being the problem, as usual, the problem is with us. Or rather, our sense of priorities.
Some people do have terrible money problems, I am deeply grateful I am not one of them. Most of us who complain about lack of funds have the same problem with money as we do with time. Our problem is how we spend it.
We would rather watch television. Drink beer. Take a fourth smoke break. Have that extra fifteen minute “snooze” period with our morning alarm. Use the full hour for lunch, and eat all the trimmings.
This post isn’t one of those “tighten your belt, swear off the Starbucks” things. I believe it is important to enjoy your time and your money. After all if you don’t, what is the point?
No, my point is if you spend your time slightly differently you might fix both your time and your money issues. Set a budget for your money and your time. Spend both a little smarter. Invest your time in activities that will return dividends.
Take this example. A forum poster said they would blog if only for the time issue. This was my reply
Yes, it does take time. Think about this though, each post I publish on my blog is a busy little worker. It’s like recruiting a new member of staff who will diligently market my site 24/7 for no pay. He will continue to work for me for years to come, attracting new readers, perhaps advertising clicks, maybe selling my products. My best articles more than pay back the time spent over and over, for years. One article brought me 11,039 NEW visitors in a single day. Not “hits”, visitors. That article is not going anywhere, it will continue to earn its keep, growing in value each time it is referenced.
Every article I write is like another $10 in my daughters high interest savings account, an investment that will add to the compound returns of the whole and grow exponentially in long term value …
At some point this blog will pay off. When it does I will be glad I put the time into writing rather than going down the pub.
I started writing this post at 15:37. It is now 15:51. Nearly finished this post then I will answer some comments and emails. Not a great deal of time to spend communicating with my blog readers. Could you find fifteen to twenty minutes a day to invest in your blog?