A letter from Time-Broke

Time audit or time budget? Both, in that order.

A time audit tells you where last week went. A time budget decides where next week goes. Most people try to budget first, building a better schedule on top of a week they’ve never actually measured, and the plan breaks by Wednesday. Do it the other way around: count first, then budget.

The audit: read the week you actually had

You have 168 hours a week. An audit is just writing down where they went, in plain categories (work, sleep, family, getting around, screens, the rest), from your calendar, your phone’s screen time and memory.

Time-Broke calls this reading your calendar as a bank statement: “A calendar treated as a statement is a record of transactions — the week you actually had.” The point isn’t to judge the week. It’s to see the numbers. Often one or two commitments turn out to cost far more than they’re booked for, because of travel, preparation and the recovery afterward.

Don’t redesign your life from one week

One honest week is a start, not a verdict. The book is direct about this: “Acting on a single week of receipts is exactly the wrong scale for any move you might be tempted to make.” Track two or three ordinary weeks before you cut anything.

The budget: give every hour a job

Once you know what a normal week costs, a budget is the same move you’d make with money. Start with what’s fixed, sleep and work, then give the remaining hours to the areas of life you care about, and keep a reserve of unplanned time so the plan can bend. If the jobs add up to more than 168 hours, something has to give, and it’s better to choose what than to find out on Thursday night.

The part that makes it work: a weekly meeting with yourself

A budget you never look at again quietly turns back into a wish. Time-Broke puts it in one line: “A budget without a recurring meeting is a wish.” Twenty-five minutes on Sunday evening is enough: compare what you planned with what happened, and set next week’s numbers.

Start this week

This week, write down where the hours go. No changes yet.
Read the method, in four moves, at www.currantapp.com/hours.
Sunday evening, draw a first budget and book next week’s meeting.

Next steps

— Andrew

From the books Life Is Not a List and Time-Broke.