Better three hours too soon than one minute too late – William Shakespeare

We see the effect of time everywhere around us – from sunrise to sunset, night to day, new to old, and from being early to “oops… sorry, I’m late”. Sooner or later, we all come to the realisation that every single person on planet earth has the same 24 hours every day to do with what some see as possible and others as impossible. If we combine the things we do with useful time management skills, we find the same thing – more time. Why? Because we become more productive and do our tasks more effectively.

Can these same benefits be expanded to include successful loan repayments?

What does time management have to do with your loan repayments?

Ever had that feeling of just not getting anything done properly due to a lack of time? Most of us have. The answer is simple, – it’s because we generally don’t manage the time we have. Instead, we rather dive in and see what happens. The vast majority of people need a little help in managing their time and need to practise being effective rather than efficient in what they do. Why? Efficiency is doing things right, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But – effectiveness is doing the right things. Note the difference.

If you have debt, you have a commitment to honour – you need to make your loan repayments every month otherwise you’ll end up in trouble. After all, it's a privilege to be able to spend in the present and repay in the future. By managing your time effectively and you can ease into your work of repaying debt effectively. When you know what you’re capable of accomplishing in a certain timeframe, you can get rid of any worry or burdensome workloads. That's why we say:

Good time management equals financial discipline.

Read on for a few tips on managing your time

How to manage time and get loans repayments done with 3 tips that work:

1. Know yourself.

First and foremost, you have to know who you are. You can't structure your time effectively if you don't know your dreams, strengths, and challenges, as they will determine the course of your life i.e. what you prioritise. What are the things that you think most about? What takes up your time most of the time? Perhaps it can be worthwhile to write down your thoughts of certain things or aspects of life and then come back to them at a later stage. This way you can discover a whole lot about yourself and why you are making certain financial decisions for example.

2. Plan and prioritise.

Take the first 10 minutes of every day to plan your day. Don't start your day until you complete your plan. An important time of your day is the time you schedule to schedule time itself. As our lives become less compartmentalised and more integrated, we find ourselves doing many things at once. So by planning and prioritising, one can stick to the most important things and do them first. This includes your financial priorities and simple things like planning for expenses that could steal from your debt repayment.

3. Learn to say no.

Saying yes to every single thing is saying no to yourself. Know your priorities and your limitations and don't commit to anything that doesn't align with them. The fact is, there will always be things to do and people that want your attention, and that’s just fine. Life is all about the company we keep. But – we can’t say yes to everything. Not saying yes to everything will help you to manage your energy, no car goes anywhere without fuel. So refuel yourself by prioritising people and tasks. As we said above, the same goes for financial priorities. When you say no to other expenses, you are more equipped to pay off debt.

The key takeaway

It's time to remove any self-sabotage or self-limitations you have around "not having enough time," or today not being "the right time" to start a business or manage your financial wellbeing properly. By managing your time, you move to being more effective in all spheres of life, including working to honour commitments such as your loan repayments.

Don't just learn how to manage your time. Learn how to manage your actions, projects, distractions, attention, and habits. Because either you manage your time or time will manage you.