Scheduling helps make it happen...

"To make sure you get around to it, schedule it". I heard this in a video seminar I watched a few weeks ago and it really hit me. The point was that there are so many things you could do at any given point in time. So, you really need to figure out what you want to focus on and then formally schedule it. By putting it on your schedule, you're less likely to flake out on it. I thought about this for a little bit then realized how true it was. Think about when you get invited to a party or some event that you RSVP to, you put it on your "schedule"....and most likely you make it. Think about your work schedule, you have meetings that you attend because they are on your schedule. Conversely, think about all the "work" you procrastinate on and you really don't have anything to remind you or hold you accountable...because it's not on a formal schedule. It's kind of like just because you have something jotted down on your schedule, you make an unconscious commitment to doing it. I use my Microsoft Outlook calendar as my master schedule but you can use anything...even if it's just a scratch piece of paper.

I still struggle to figure out what priority to give things. I mean, there's just so many things to do and it feels like not enough time to do them in. Let's take this blog for example, I really wanted to start making it a priority. But then my day job started sucking up major hours...and when I got home to hang out with my family for a bit....I needed get to bed for a few hours of sleep before doing it all over again. But you know what I found out, all the things that I actually put on my calendar got done. Even with putting more hours in at work and preparing for a big family weekend....EVERYTHING I jotted down to do on my calendar was accomplished. So, maybe there really is something about this scheduling theory. Anyway, one thing I'm going to start doing is scheduling time to post on this blog. I'm hoping this allows me to get into a nice cadence for continuing to share my thoughts on my debt free journey.

So, how does scheduling apply to the debt free journey? Well, I'm sure you've heard of many personal finance books telling people to make it "automatic". This refers to scheduling certain financial transactions to execute automatically so you can't change your mind and prevent it from happening. This refers to things like direct deposit of your paychecks into savings accounts so that you don't even get a chance to spend the money. Or investing in your company's 401k plan by taking pre-tax dollars our of your paychecks. Or paying yourself first by stashing away a percentage of your income every month before you pay any other bill or spend on anything else. Bottom line, the idea is to setup certain transactions that will help protect you...from yourself. If you never see the money, you'll never be able to spend it...is the theory.

Besides making things automatic, you should utilize your schedule to help facilitate your debt free journey. We've decided to make weekly budgets and withdraw our cash for expenses according to that schedule. We scheduled our first staycation in which we chatted a lot about our debt free journey accomplishments and future endeavors. I highly recommend scheduling these staycations/planning sessions/strategic offsites....whatever you want to call them. For one, it's a great escape which allows you to re-charge your batteries and more importantly, it allows you and your spouse to have focused discussions around the debt free journey. Speaking of which, we need to put our next event for the upcoming quarter.

The debt free journey can be long and tiring. To make sure you keep up with it, scheduling certain things can definitely help you stay focused along the way.