Work Less

Everyone's goal in life should be to work less and play more. Who ever came up with the idea of work? Who was it that said that all jobs are to be done in an 8 hour time frame and are to be done Monday through Friday?

With today's challenging economy it is getting to be a necessity that more people work from home for at least a few days a week and even more would be better.

In order to work less and play more, you will need to have a steady income that allows you to do just that! It also requires that you take financial responsibility. The way you handle money is a reflection of your inner beliefs about yourself and your beliefs about work. Money is another one of those things where we just project all of our unresolved feelings into. Wealth is really just how long you can live without working. Being wealthy requires that you live within your means -whatever that means for you. The end goal is of course to work less and play more!!

If you are like most people in the US, you are in debt over your head or are living beyond your means. Trying to figure out your finances by creating a budget is the same as going on a diet- it just doesn't work until you take care of the psychological issues underneath the reasons for not having the money that you need to have the freedom you want to work less and play more.

Becoming aware of your issues around spending and making money can be very painful to realize. The thing is that most of our issues around money are based on unconscious beliefs that we have about ourselves. Yes it goes back to that early childhood (again!).

To start becoming more aware of your issues around money just start tracking what you make and what you spend on a daily basis. Do that for 2-4 months. The reason for tracking your money is not to put you on a budget but to become more aware of what comes in and what goes out. In doing so, you can come to see that you may just need to make more money or spend less.

If you are in debt, getting out of debt starts with not going into anymore debt. Start saving a little money each month until you have enough for one month of living expenses to start with. Use this savings fund for those expenses that you would normally put on a credit card.

As you become more financially aware you can start to make better decisions about your money. While it doesn't necessarily mean cutting back on spending you may make a more conscious choice about money that will involve cutting back but the reason for cutting back is not that you have to restrict your spending. It is more about that you 'want to' cut back on your spending. The difference in where the decision to spend money comes from will make it easier to live within your means.

Once you get an idea of how much is coming and going, you can create a monthly spending plan. At the beginning of the month outline your monthly expenses - food, gas, rent/mortgage and all those details. As each week progresses, track your spending and income in each category. You can track your progress and make adjustments as you go taking more financial responsibility and making better choices.

You may also come to realize that you just need to make more money. It is just a simple reality. Most do need to make more money no matter what. Creating multiple streams of income will allow you more freedom to work less.

Creating websites is one way I have found to work less. Even though I am writing and learning new things about websites - to me it never really feels like work! I can work in my pajamas and work in the middle of the night or work anytime I am so moved. I can take walks in the park and watch "Ellen" during the day.

While websites is just one way, I am sure there are many other ways to start on the path to work less.