How can your budget help you chase your dreams?

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I had a vague idea that I wanted to take my writing to a new level. I am sure that you have felt the tug of one more thing that seemed like it is calling out to you, to add it to your life. The pull to change directions can be so strong we can be tempted to move without assessing our resources.

How can you know for certain that you can take on one more thing?

[Tweet “Do you tend to add one task on top of another, then get overwhelmed and say “No” to everything?”]

I’ve been there, overwhelmed and under satisfied. When I decided that writing was a part of my life I wanted to pursue, the first thing that I knew I needed to do was make an assessment. Every hour of the day was at my disposal, in my bank account. I did not want to bankrupt my family or over burden myself, so I needed to see where those hours were going.

Imagine if you were looking to buy a new car, and when you finalized your budget you found that you had the cash for a substantial payment. Would that change the kind of car you would buy? Would you move forward with a purchase with confidence? When you are questioning your schedule, finding free hours is like hitting the lottery.

I used this page from Sage Grayson’s website. (Check our her site for some awesome freebees) These are a few things that budgeting my time did for me. When I parsed out every hour; 8 hours for sleeping, 2 hours of meal prep, devotional time, school hours, family time, personal care, I made a surprising discovery. I had 3 hours of unaccounted for time in my day.

• Knowing I had those hours gave me permission to decide how I wanted to spend them.
• Knowing I had hours to spare freed me from unreal expectations, guilt and pressures. I am a person with an overactive sense of obligation, but logging my core tasks gave me peace to work for 3 hours uninterrupted without guilt.
• Knowing my window of opportunity helped me to not let the hours slip away. I was accountable for those 3 hours every day because I now knew they were there.

Are your hours just wasting away in your account?  

Get out a piece of paper and write every hour of the day on the left hand side. Now start logging in your tasks for the day. Keep adding throughout the day so you don’t miss anything. Do it for a week if you have to, but create a budget for your time.

If your budget is in the red, start slashing. What can you drop, sift or reorganize to gain the hours you need to take on your dream. If you can’t afford the muscle car you can begin with a scooter, but knowing gives you a place to start.