Are you spending your time wisely?

Imagine…

There is a bank that credits your account each morning with £86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do?

Draw out all of it, of course!!! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!

The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realise the value of one year, ask the student who failed a grade. To realise the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realise the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realise the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realise the value of one minute, ask a person who missed the train. To realise the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident. To realise the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special - special enough to spend your time with.

And remember that time waits for no one.

‘Yesterday is History. Tomorrow is a Mystery. Today is a Gift. That’s why it’s called The Present’

Source unknown

How have you been investing your time lately?

Consider the return on your investment – have you been getting happier, healthier and more successful? If you are feeling somewhat short-changed, why not re-think your investment strategy… or at least think about having one?

You may have heard that “time is money”. Indeed, there is a common perception that there is never enough of it (we even make efforts to save it) and we enjoy spending it! However, in reality, our time is limited and we are all blessed with an equal amount of time to spend each and every day. This is not true of money – we can make more or less of it depending on what we do with the amount we have and with ourselves.

It may be a comfort to know that there are many financial advisors out there happy to show you how to spend your money. But who is the expert on spending time? When it comes to spending your time you alone can be that expert.

How do you recognise time well spent?

What does it look like, sound like or feel like to you?

If you were to know, what would be your secret(s) to experiencing this more often?

What, if anything, might get in the way and how might you minimize this interference?

Where does your attention need to be when considering how to spend your time?

You may find it helpful to be reminded of your focus in spending time. For example, by asking yourself “will spending my time this way make me happy/healthy/successful (or any other experience you desire)?”

Over the next month, I invite you to become more of an expert on spending your time and to find new ways to enjoy your gift that is The Present.

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."

Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)