I debated about the topic for this week’s article. I considered discussing a workshop I attended about money management. Yet this week I’ve encountered several people, including me, who have trouble managing their time.  Which is more important, money or time? Hey, they go together, don’t they? It’s all about how you use what you have, so I’ll discuss both!

How do you use the money you have? Is there more going out or more coming in? Credit cards make our lives easy, and regrettably, they also make it easy to spend more than we make.  The workshop I mentioned was T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind evening, which provides an overview and information on how to enroll in the Millionaire Mind Intensive. That seminar helps people allocate their money wisely and learn how to create passive income.  It was interesting to attend that event just as Jim is retiring from his day job. This retirement is possible because of our conscientious saving and investing. We started this process totally broke and, by some standards, late. We were in our early forties. Since then, we have assisted two daughters through college, graduate school, and home buying. We have bought and paid for a house in the mountains and are still paying for our house in Berkeley. And we have created an income stream that allows us to retire early and support ourselves until we are 100, with a generous comfort level for contingencies.

So what could we need to know about money management? I always think there is something new to learn, even if it’s only to know that I did the right thing. In the case of money management, while we’ve done a lot of the right thing, what we didn’t do – yet – is to create passive income other than retirement income. It’s something I’ve had as a goal and it’s something I’m just about to launch. Ultimately my email coaching programs, Promise Power, my books and other projects are the springboard for passive income. Since we’ve set up our retirement income to live comfortably, any passive income we create will be the proverbial icing! We can use it to be generous, to support projects we value, and to splurge on a few extravagances. It’s all good.

I started this article by talking about money and time. The time issue is something I face every day, and it’s definitely critical to my development of passive income. We all have a finite number of hours and what seems like a limitless number of projects to complete in those hours. How do I divvy up my time so that I accomplish what I want, when I want? This is something I also coach clients about. Here’s how I suggest people set up their schedule.  I’m offering a test run of my Daily Success Tracker at the end of this article.

Begin by asking a few questions:

• What are the projects you have going in your life right now? Consider your career, family, and personal goals.
• What can you reasonably accomplish in each area this week?
• What do you know you can carry out today? (Set your intention to be somewhat challenging, but be careful not to over-commit yourself.)

Fill in your schedule starting with the unchangeable, add the necessary, and finally include the optional.

• Begin by entering all scheduled appointments for the week.
  Then each day, add the following:
• Add time for planning and reflection either at the beginning or end of your day.
• Add meals and snacks.
• Add rest.
• Add exercise.
• Add blocks of time to work on those tasks that you’ve identified as important in your life and work.

While it’s good to follow through with diligence, please be flexible. It’s important to plan and set reasonable, reachable goals, but life always challenges us to learn more and be more and sometimes we simply have to change our plans to stay vibrant and productive!

© 2006, Jacqueline Hale

Special Offer

Please help me test my Daily Success Tracker. Each day you’ll receive an email that helps you create a schedule that is reasonable and helps you focus on all aspects of your life: work, health, personal growth, family!  If you want to try it out for a month, send email to:

[1] dailytracker@aweber.com