Set Your Priorities

Someone told me recently, “There are no excuses or even reasons – just priorities.” He said he knew 3 things that I would do tomorrow no matter what. hmm OK – what are they? He said “I know tomorrow you will

  • Eat
  • Digest
  • Go to the bathroom “

He’s right. I always make time for those 3 things even if I don’t make time for anything else. Granted, I don’t have to make time to digest – it just takes care of itself. But the other two, I do always make time for.

So, if there are things you are not doing like (my typical list)

  • Clean/organize closets
  • Paint guest bedroom
  • Find bed in guest bedroom
  • Organize/clear out Christmas stuff
  • Alphabetize spices

because you don’t have the time. Face facts! These things just don’t rank .

I have a friend who was out of work during the most recent recession. When she was working, she had a long list of things to do around the house, but she felt like she never had time to do them and it stressed her out. After 6 months of not doing those things even when she didn’t have to go to work every day, she realized she just didn’t care enough about them. (She does make time for the things that are important to her.) She has now “let go” of that To Do list.

Another friend says, “a lot of addition comes from subtraction.” So, you may have to let go of some things to make way for the things that are higher on your list.

In the words of some great thinkers:

Action expresses priorities.                                                                                                                            — Mahatma Gandhi

The key is not to prioritize our schedule, but to schedule our priorities.                                —Stephen R. Covey

You always have time for the things you put first.                                                                              — Anonymous

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.                           —Charles Bixton

If you continually ask yourself, ‘What’s important now” you won’t waste time on the trivial.                                                                                                                                                                         —Lou Holtz

The reason most goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first.                                                                                                                                                               —Robert J. McKain

About the author:

Bev Banfield is a CPA, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®, and founder of Banfield Divorce Financial Advisors. The Denver-based company was established to help divorcing couples more easily and equitably separate their finances. Banfield has more than 30 years of experience in financial analysis, budgeting, and auditing.  Contact us for more information at (303) 482-1726 or bev@bbdfa.com. Connect with me on LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbanfield/