Money Saving Mom®

If you missed it, read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

After you’ve set big goals and changed your mindset about money, now it’s time to have the rubber meet the road

3) Make the Time to Turn Your Goals Into Realities.

While following the principles in this series will definitely put your well on your way to earning more while working less, I want to be clear in reiterating that there’s no shortcut to success. If you want your dream to become a reality, you’re going to have to work hard to make it happen. This may mean short-term sacrifices and more time invested upfront, but keep at it and it will pay off in the long run.

If you’re feeling like you don’t have time to add something new to your schedule, here are some ideas:

::Track Your Time

You may not have time because you’re not managing your time well. Keep a detailed time log for a week or two to see where the 24 hours of each day is actually going. This exercise will invariably be enlightening and possibly disheartening when you realize how much time is being wasted or spent carelessly. Use the information gleaned to make positive changes to that will push you closer toward your goals and objectives.

::Eliminate Time Wasters

As much as is possible, remove time suckers from your life. If you’re spending a lot of time on the phone, set specific phone hours and let the answering machine or voicemail pick up otherwise. If you’re wasting time surfing the internet, impose a time limit for each day and create a plan for how you will spend your time online.

One thing I recently eliminated was my Facebook account. I loved interacting with people on Facebook, but I realized that I was using it as a distraction or time staller. When I should be focusing, I was, instead, checking to see if anyone had updated their Facebook status. I tried to come up with various solutions, but finally just decided I needed to completely disable my Facebook account right now. I figured that the world will still go on, I’ll be a lot more focused on the computer, and my friends can call, text, or email me if they need something. 🙂

::Stop Making Excuses

As long as you keep making excuses that you don’t have enough time, you’ll never get any closer toward your goals. If something is important enough to you, you’ll make time for it.

::Practice the 5 a.m. Principle

Getting up early and working for 30 minutes or an hour while the rest of the world sleeps is one of the most efficient and simplest ways to make great strides toward your goals. Sure, when the alarm clock goes off early in the morning, another hour of sleep sounds so much better than tackling a project, but I can guarantee that if you faithfully get up and put in that hour’s worth of work, it can pay off big time.

This is how I wrote my book earlier this year. I knew that I didn’t have much extra time in the middle of the day for writing (especially since I have three young children!), so instead, I went to bed by 8-9 p.m. and got up at 4 a.m. almost every single weekday for three months in order to have at least an extra hour of uninterrupted time to write in the morning. I had to drag myself out of bed some of those mornings, but now that the book is done, I know it was every bit worth it to rearrange my schedule and get up earlier in order to accomplish this goal.

::Delegate

At face value, outsourcing might not seem frugal. In reality, it can be a powerful secret in your ability to work smarter, not harder.

For years, I felt like I had to do all of the tasks of running my business myself because it would be extravagant to pay someone else to work for me. However, I finally got to the point where I was working way too many hours and was constantly behind. In short, the business had outgrown what I could handle myself.

As I’ve slowly brought on people to help, I’ve found that not only does it free me up to focus on what I do best, it also makes my business stronger because I’m able to hire on people who are strong in areas where I’m weak. Yes, it has significantly increased my business expenses, but since it has strengthened the business and allowed me to focus on my core competencies the result has been major growth and income increase. In fact, my expenses have only gone up slightly in comparison to how the business income has increased.

Recommended Reading:

The Other 8 Hours — This book is packed with helpful advice and suggestions for how to earn income outside of your day job. If you feel like you don’t have time to start something on the side because you already work full-time, this book will especially be helpful.

Eat That Frog — This book is jam packed with practical ideas for prioritizing your time and life so that you make the most of your days.

Quitter — I loved this book! In his witty style, Jon shares a wealth of advice for getting from where you are to where you want to go.

…to be continued next Wednesday

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