YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

One reason it's so important to understand that your time is your own is because we all need to take responsibility for how we spend that time. It's too easy to think that you're not getting anything done because your friends interrupt on the phone, the children are a top priority, you need to handle everything on your own, and so on.

But in reality, you make a choice to talk to your friend on the phone when he or she calls, don't you? You've made a choice to devote every waking minute to your children rather than prioritizing and sharing responsibilities. You make a choice to take on all jobs and responsibilities yourself, rather than delegating.

It's true that often someone else can be very good at making a person feel bad if they don't give up their time, but in this area too it's good to take responsibility for your own feelings. You can't allow someone else to use guilt or manipulation to force you to give up your time, not unless you've made a choice to do so.

When you start to take responsibility for your own time, realizing that it's yours to do with as you please, you understand better how to maximize your time. You better understand that you are making a choice when you allow someone else to take that time away from you.

MAKING CHOICES

Choosing how you spend your time is like choosing how you spend your money. Your money is yours to do with as you please. You may again be arguing, saying that your money must go to the mortgage or rent, car payment, utilities, and so on. But as with your time, you're making a choice to spend your money on these things. You're choosing to live in a home or apartment and have chosen on with the payment it has. You choose to have a car and utilities rather than to be homeless and trying to live off the land.

And when someone asks you for money, what is your response? Chances are you think carefully about how much you give away and to whom. You probably don't just pull out your wallet and spread around your money to anyone and everyone that asks.

Your time is much the same. When someone tries to interrupt or wants you to give up your priorities for theirs, you need to think about this carefully. Again, this isn't to say that you never give your time to someone else but you should do so because you've made a careful choice. You've measured their needs for your time versus your wants for your time and have decided on what to do; you haven't just given your time away blindly.

If you begin to think of your time as being much like your money, you may realize the value it has. You may realize that indeed it is yours to do with as you please. The decisions you make regarding your time should be made carefully and considerately.