time budget

Preschool has begun and though it doesn't mean summer is officially over (well at least not in my house) it does mean a more routine schedule and a lot less travel time. This is the first year since right after Micah was born that I haven't either been working part time or watching other kids. While I am so excited to be able to invest all my time to my family, all the open time ahead of me is a little daunting. I want to use it to the fullest both for myself and for others without getting overwhelmed with the huge amount of choices, and sometimes, time wasters out there. Part of one of dave's sermons series about spiritual disciplines was planning your time wisely and making sure you are using your time for Kingdom things as well. Days, weeks, years seem to move slowly but fly by at the same time and to help get a handle on the time God gives me I made myself a weekly goals list. Zach and I readjusted our personal $ budget not too long ago to reduce waste so a 'time' budget seemed like a great idea as well. :)

My Weekly Goals

* daily prayer time and bible reading

* read some of a novel and/or spiritual growth book before bed each night

* have at least one meaningful/catch up chat with a sibling or sibling in law

* email/talk to at least one friend to encourage and catch up

* catch up conversations and time together with Zach daily

* play time with Micah and Connor daily

* special alone time with each child at least once each week

* keep up with cleaning/household schedule

* two scrapbook pages a week

* share with friends and family through blog and pictures

* volunteer time with something or someone

My desire is that this will keep me attentive to what I'm doing while strengthening all kinds of relationships in the process. Now some of you are probably just thinking why aren't you doing all this anyway, what's the point of making a list. Well there are two reasons...1) I am a HUGE list person, and not just for the satisfaction of checking something off, but to have a visual to remind and encourage me. 2) to share with others who will see it the importance of knowing what you spend your time doing and encourage them to help me stick to my time budget, and maybe think of what themselves and this is doable for anyone male/female, work out of the home/stay at home, etc. I'm really excited about having this reminder and seeing how more fulfilling my days might be.