I found myself listening to Dave Ramsey this Easter. It was a recording of a show that had been on the air earlier that week. The part that was convicting though was in a segment when he featured a Ramsey personality specializing in encouraging women in their entrepreneurial pursuits. A lady called in and asked for advice discerning if now was the right season to take the leap into self-employment and business start-up. Part of the answer was an encouragement to make a budget of hours, like the zero-based budgets encouraged by some financial advisers. Then, after discerning where time went, the caller could better assess if starting a business fit as a priority in this season of life.
I was especially convicted, because there have been seasons of my past life where my time was used quite effectively – I was doing what I wanted to be doing when I wanted to be doing it. However, lately that has not been the case. I’ve been leading a flexible schedule that allowed for (and caused) surplus effort/time to be squandered. So, this is my declaration of being done with that course of behavior.
I want to use a schedule; to me, Google Calendar feels like the best schedule app for now. Here’s my color-code:
- Pink – Hayley
- Red – fasting or other all-day spiritual ventures
- Yellow – school or other intellectual pursuits
- Orange – bodily training (aerobic, strength, flexibility)
- Light Green “Sage” – stewardship (spiritual disciplines, financial record keeping, yard maintenance, etc.)
- Dark Green “Basil” – accountability or hobbies (like blogging)
- Light Blue “Peacock” – personal meeting
- Dark Blue “Blueberry” – church meeting
- Lavender – planning self-care
- Grape – practicing self-care
- Grey/Gray – Birthdays and Misc.
Of course, color-coding doesn’t equate to practicing, but it feels like it.
And hopefully, it means that I’ll be able to “see” how I’m budgetting time as I live it.
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