Managing Time and Money – Miriam Gunn

It is not uncommon for entrepreneurs to struggle with time management. We have a tendency to cram too many things in too little time, often believing that things with “magically” turn out in our favor.

Magical Thinking

Magical thinking is what is know as a classic “thinking error.”

Thinking Errors – also referred to as Cognitive Distortions – are irrational and extreme ways of thinking that are not grounded in reality.

Magical thinking occurs when a person believes that specific words, thoughts, emotions, or rituals can influence the external world.

For example, if you use magical thinking, you might think, “If I hope hard enough, I can make all five errends fit into ten minutes.” Or “I’ll have enough money to pay off that credit card by the time it comes.” Or “The customers will come if I wait long enough.”

It is not uncommon for each of us to utilize some form of magical thinking in our every day lives, but I encourage you to stand back and check your thought process, to make sure that you aren’t creating real damage to your forward movement with sloppy thinking about your use of time.

Rather than try to cram that last chore in before the meeting, I try to get into the car a minute early and pause—Did I forget anything?

I also try arrive to the engagement a minute or two early. This allows me to ground myself, rather than run in breathless and look and feel scattered.

Optimizing Time

There is always another layer to optimizing yourself and your use of time. That is what makes being a human being so incredible—we can always improve ourselves!

So maybe you aren’t a magical thinker, but there’s always another space of growth to be had. Until you take your last breath, there’s always something you can get better at or improve upon.

Maybe you take Sundays to look at your week and plan it out beforehand.

Perhaps you conduct a time audit and really look at where you are spending your time. You might be surprised.

Talk About Money

Prior to coaching high performers, I used to do marriage counseling. One thing that I noticed (and is also supported in the literature) is that the two topics people fight about the most are money and sex.

This topic of financial resources and how they are allocated is stressful enough in a normal, two income family, however, if you are in business, the stress can get to a whole other level.

If you get yourself into a space where you don’t have enough money to cover your expenses, the stress becomes visceral because your team members, employees, and other people’s lives are involved.

I have seen things become dark and bleak for entrepreneurs in this situation. Sometimes taking your own life begins to seem like a viable option.

I’m here to say that nothing is worth that!

All these problems can be worked out no matter how many zeros are involved. Get some help. Go to a therapist. Find a coach. Find a friend. Don’t let something that is temporal (the situation) become permenent by taking such drastic action.

Understanding Your Financial Bottom Line

Let me encourage you to get in the habit of really understanding your finances and where your money is going.

There are so many people who are unaware of the actual status of their finances. They spend if they feel like it. If they have money in the bank, everything is good. But this isn’t necessarily the case.

I have observed that there are two different personality types in terms of how people think about money allocation: Lumpers and Splitters.

The Lumpers look at the bank account and if there is X amount of money in it, they are reassured and they spend.

The Splitters approach this differently. They split their resources into several different bank accounts and only if those accounts have money, do they spend.

I am a Splitter. I have bank accounts for everything. Health expenses. Vacations. Taxes. Auto Repair. Animal Emergency Funds. You get the idea.

There is no right or wrong here. However, either way, it is important to have a budget, personally and also as a business.