by Elizabeth A. Marion

Created on: July 19, 2010   Last Updated: July 21, 2010

A time budget is very similar to a financial budget. The only difference is that instead of budgeting your finances you are budgeting your time. Creating a financial budget can help you pay your bills, pay down your debt, and keep track of how much money your spending. Creating a time budget can help you prioritize activities, make the most out of your time, and be more productive. Properly managing your time can be just as beneficial as properly managing your money.

The first thing to do is make a list of all the activities that require your time, just like you would make a list of the bills you have to pay for a financial budget. Then think about your other expenses. What do you spend your time on that you are not required to spend time on? How much of that do you benefit from? How much of it is just wasting time? Is your time being spent wisely or is most of it being wasted?

Now you need to set some goals for yourself. You know how you're spending your time. Now think about how you want to spend your time. What activities on your schedule are not required and do not benefit you? These are the activities you will cut back on to make more time for the things you want to do. Decide how much time you want to have for yourself and your own activities and set goals that will help you reach that. That could mean less time shopping, watching TV, or being on the computer to make time for your family or a project you haven't been able to finish.

Setting those goals will require you to prioritize. You will need to prioritize the activities that are required of you and the activities that are your choice. Once you do that you will be able to set goals for yourself to spend your time more wisely, just as a financial budget will help you spend your money more wisely. Your goals can be to devote less time to something wasteful or to devote more time to something beneficial. It all depends on your needs and your time budget.

Then comes the hard part-sticking to the decisions and goals you make for yourself once you have created that time budget. If you reach your goals and are still not satisfied then you may want to look over your time budget again or create a new one.

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