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Don’t Shortchange Yourself: Don’t Waste Your Time

Often, the idea of shortchanging yourself is related to money. Are you making what you deserve? Did you spend more than you had to? There are numerous ways to shortchange yourself financially, from failing to shop around for the best deal to not asking for the raise that you know that you should have.

You also have to be careful not to shortchange yourself when it comes to life. Don’t waste your time because your time is more valuable than money. You can almost always make more money. There is no way to manufacture more time. Once that time is gone, it’s gone forever.

Time = Money

One of the ways you might be wasting time is that you might be passing up opportunities to make more money. Are your frittering away time that could be spent improving your earning power? This might mean using wasted time to start a side hustle, or it could mean using your time to improve your knowledge, or acquire a new, marketable skill.

Don’t forget that time can easily be money, and you don’t want to shortchange yourself in that way. Look for ways to convert your wasted time into profitable activities.

Sometimes the Profit Isn’t in the Money

While it can be worth your time to look for ways to earn more money, it’s also important not to shortchange yourself by thinking that every minute has to be devoted to making money. Some things are more valuable than money. Time for yourself. Time with your family and friends. Time making sure that you are in good health. All of these things are vital to your overall well being.

In some cases, more work for a little more money is just as much a waste of time as messing around on Facebook for hours at a time. Later, as your children grow up and as your relationships with others become strained, you’ll realize how you were shortchanging yourself by being focused too much on money.

Look for Balance

Figure out what you want from your life, and look for balance. You need to find a balance that works for your situation, and that helps you accomplish the life goals you are thinking about. So, if you want time to improve your health, and you want to be able to spend time playing with your kids, those are the activities you need to make time for.

Look at where you spend your time, and ask yourself whether it is helping you advance in your life.  It’s important to know what you want from life, and then figure out what action you need to take to achieve it. Set your priorities, and then get your life in line with them. It will be easier to avoid wasting your time on the things that don’t matter as much to you.

You don’t want to shortchange yourself when it comes to your life. Avoiding that is even more important than avoiding shortchanging yourself when it comes to your money.

Comments

  1. Promod Sharma | promoting insurance literacy

    Thanks for this “timely” post, Tom.

    Time is money. Unlike money, time can’t be replaced.

    Tracking where time goes is worthwhile. If you’re on your computer or Android phone regularly, RescueTime.com is a handy tool that’s effortless to use.

  2. Mike Collins

    Balance is the most important thing. Working full time and having a business on the side is tough. I try to make productive use of my time at night but at the same time I have a family too and need to make time for them. It’s always a balancing act of trying to get work done and spending time with the wife and kids.

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