Triple Inspiration in a Single Minute

Every Sunday is Triple Inspiration day here on Minutes Worth Hours. You get three quotes to guide you through the week and inspire you, make you happier and more productive.

You can find the full series here.

Get Productive!

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
(Will Rogers)

Get Happy!

"I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than attempting to satisfy them.
(John Stuart Mills)

Get Inspired!

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
(Shakespeare - Hamlet)

Pay Right Away

Picture by Darren Kidd

The only thing bills are good for, is making you feel responsible when you pay them. Apart from that, all they do is cause headaches and anxiety. That's not something you want to deal with often, is it? So don't.
In our house, we have no bills coming in because everything is paid on the go. Yes, that includes electricity. But when we were living in Belgium it was different, of course.

What I tried there was to pay each bill as soon as it came in, and then shred it. Usually, they got picked up from the mailbox on the way home. Then it was just a matter of getting my e-banking going and voila.

Some people may try to do all their bills at one time every month, but that can be a bit of a financial surprise too. When you have all the money gone in one big chunk, perhaps it's more difficult in the weeks before that to estimate how much you can really spend.

When you've picked up a stack of bills, just turn on your computer and surf to your e-banking platform right away. Set up the payments and you're done. Now, shred the bills and never think about them again. What's done is done. You can't get the money back, so there's no need worrying about it. 
The one exception is a bill that was way too high and could have been prevented (phone-bill anyone?). In that case, it may serve as a reminder to put it up somewhere noticeable. 

One more bit of advice: if your bank gives you a percentage on how much is in your checking account, you can set up a delayed payment so as to get the most out of that. Just make sure you have enough money in your account when the payment goes through. And keep in mind the first paragraph: if all the money is transfered at the same time, it may be difficult to plan your purchases.

I like money, but I'm not too keen on doing all the financial stuff. Still, in our family, I'm the one who deals with the finances, so I would rather have it over and done with quickly. 
But the main advantage of paying right away, is that there's no risk of forgetting and having to pay the overdue fees.

Five 1-Minute Time Savers

Picture by Elliott Brown

Time is the one resource we can never get more of. Eventually, it will run out, and we won't have a chance to get to back or to buy some extra, no matter what common expressions my say.

The idea of 'saving time' is actually quite odd as well. It's not like we can take some time, put it in a bank, and withdraw when we need it most. Time is not money.

But what we can do, is try to use our time as efficiently and carefully as possible, thus creating limiting the time we spend on activities that don't really matter to us. On this blog, there are some ideas on how to do this, and below you can find the 5 best ones.

1. Keep stuff in the same spot. At all times, keep your things in a designated location. Even if it's something that you use often, like a phone, try to give it a certain location in every room. For example: in the office it should be on your desk, in the kitchen next to the fridge, etc. Then, even if you don't know which room it's in, you limit the places you have to look for it.
   Read the post on keeping your keys in one place here.
   
2. Write lists. Lists are a good way to use your time more efficiently because you've basically done the thinking before the doing, thus focusing on each of those two in turn instead of trying to do both at the same time. A good example of a list that can save you tons of time is a grocery list, but it also goes for checklists when you pack or when you're working.
   
3. Clean up as you go. Clearing stuff away is one of those things that takes up time depending on the kind of person you are. Messy people have to spend a lot more time on this because of the magical way in which stuff just seems to fill up their space. It seems difficult to control, but it isn't. You just try to remind yourself to put everything you touch back in its designated spot. Taking off your clothes? Put them on a hanger in the closet or toss them in the laundry.
   Mind you, in certain situations this may ruin a perfectly good moment. On these occasions, use your better judgment.
   This post gives you more info on putting things away when you're finished with them.
   
4. Make activities shorter. Some things we do don't really require as much time as we take for them. How long do you really need to talk on the phone? Or be in the shower? Do you really want to spend your time slowly meandering through the supermarket?
   Try to do some of these things a little faster to save a couple of minutes. They will add up to give you time to do something you enjoy.
   
5. Give up a big time waster. Stuff that wastes time is something you do that doesn't really mean that much to you, but that just kind of makes time go by. We all have these activities. It could be reading a magazine, watching TV or surfing the web. It's the kind of stuff that makes you feel a little 'blah' after, and in hind sight turns the day into one of those days in which nothing really happened.
   We gave up facebook and TV so far. What would you give up?

What do you do to save time? How important is it to you? What would you do with an hour extra each day? Let's share some of our ideas with each other!

From Guest Room to Hotel in 5 Minutes

Yay! My sister has finally arrived here in China! She'll be staying with us for a week, and then we'll travel around for about two weeks (more on that you'll find on July 12th).

She's not the first to stay with us, which you may have guessed after the Couchsurfing post, but she's of course one of our favorite guests. Guests in our house sleep in the guest room, and I do try to make them feel extra welcome and extra comfortable. One of the quick ways to do this is by dressing up the room with tiny extras that make it feel like a hotel.

Look through your house to see if you can find a nice basket or box. Anything that doesn't look too messy and can hold a few small items. 
Then, find something to fill the basket with. If you pick up the tiny bottles from hotels (I'm a sucker for tiny bottles), then put those in there. How about a pack of tissues, or a piece o soap? 
I also put a pillow on the bed and a pair of slippers for our guests to use (we don't allow shoes in the house, it's an Asian practice we've adopted for cleanliness reasons (outside-China is much dirtier than outside-Belgium or outside-US!).
Also add some mints to your basket, or put a piece of chocolate on the pillow.

Make sure the bed is made and looks neat. If there's a closet, try to open up some space and put a couple of spare coat hangers in there. 


And for the final touch ... put a guest book next to the bed, so that your guests can write how much they appreciated your effort. You deserve it!

Chances are, your guest(s) won't feel the need to use what you put out there, or at least not all of it. Still, it's nice for them to walk into a room that's so welcoming. It shows how much you want them to be there and to feel comfortable.

Any more tips on how to make guests feel extra welcome and extra comfortable?

Worth Every Minute

Every Wednesday, I search for the best advice or inspirational information available on the web, to share with you, my readers. They can be blog posts, articles or videos, that have inspired me in some way or another. The whole series can be found here.

The first in my series, is a blog post by Scott Young that takes an interesting view on figuring out what you want to do with your life. It's a question I struggled to answer myself for a very long time. I feel I now know what I want to do, but I'm aware my choices might change later in the future. My hubby still struggles with this question, so this is for all of you who do.

What do you want to do with your life, by Scott Young.

I hope you enjoy the article, and feel free to share your opinions in the comments here or on Scott's blog.