Happy new year everyone! Wow, isn’t it incredible how quickly 2018 has flown by? I keep waiting for a period in life where time slows down but as the years pass, time seems to only fly more quickly. Not only that, but there never seems to be enough of it in a day. No time to prepare meals, to clean, to workout, to budget, to sleep, the list goes on… and on… and on.
Last year, Luke and I focused on starting and building good money management habits. As we practiced these habits, they became second nature and they take less effort now to carry out. For example, we had mastered the art of budgeting and running all of our income through that budget. It is something that Luke and I have learned to do together which has been crucial to our progress toward our 2018 goals..
This year, we will continue to grow good money management habits in addition to positive habits that produce positive change in other areas of our lives. In 2019, I really would like to cultivate some healthier habits around time management. Here are some of the things that I will start doing, even before the new year, to start building a strong time management foundation:
Create a more structured schedule
Anyone that I am close to will tell you that I have type A personality tendencies. I love structure, I enjoy setting and working toward personal goals, I plan until I can’t plan anymore, I often overthink almost every decision and I am incredibly self-critical (almost to a fault). Despite all of that, somehow I have lost a daily routine.
Don’t ask me how it happened, it’s probably been about a 1.5 years since I’ve had a solid daily routine of getting up at a specific time, spending time with the God that I love, working out, going to work, coming home, making dinner, doing yard work and hanging out with Luke. These things still happen, just not everyday and certainly not at the same time everyday. It is driving me crazy so this will be the first habit to create this year.
Stop hitting snooze
If I am a pro at anything, it’s sleeping. Almost as soon as my head hits the pillow, I am out. I aim to get at least 7 hours of good sleep a night and generally that happens. The problem is, I hit my phone’s snooze button a bajillion times before I jump out of bed in the morning. The worst part is, I can legitimately fall back asleep between each of those 9 minute snoozes. Some days I will even set my alarm clock for an hour later which doesn’t even give me a whole lot of time to get ready for work in the morning.
Enough consistent and uninterrupted sleep is so important. This year, I’ll start by setting a reasonable bedtime range and waking up at the same time each morning so that I can spend time with God and spend time working out before I leave for work. I think I’ll even move my alarm across the room until I get used to not snoozing again.
Watch less television
I read an online article the other day from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that claimed that Americans watch an average of 2-3 hours of television per day. I definitely fall into that category with some of the NetFlix shows that I have enjoyed following.
Hmmm… if I would even just cut TV time down to 1 hour each day, that’s about 14 hours of awake time each week that I could use to work toward our 2019 goals.
Although none of these habits are novel or extreme, they are certainly important and will create positive change in my life and in my marriage. The time gained with each of these habits will go into important goals for spiritual, marriage, fitness, educational and yes you guessed it…financial goals. I am so excited to get started building these new habits among others. It is never too late or too early to work on change, the new year is just a really great place to start.
What kind of positive habits are you looking to build in 2019? Let us know in the comment section below.
