Life is Too Short for Monday Mornings – Personal Finance Review

Why do we spend miserable Monday mornings at our jobs when we don’t even know if we’ll be alive the following Monday?

I recently got an email from my parents about a guy I knew in my college years who just died in an accident.  I can still remember the last time I saw him.  He was leaving with his dad and a friend, off to college. I can remember the last time I spoke with him.  He was finished with school and settled temporarily in our metro area. We invited him over for a party but he couldn’t make it.

Just two weeks ago he was alive and out with some friends.  Hours later his parents got the dreaded phone call.  It can happen that quickly, the time we have to live is so precious but it’s so easily squandered doing things we don’t enjoy. 

Obviously we can’t go through life avoiding everything we don’t enjoy or we may never get out of bed.  I do think, however, that sometimes we make choices which force us into doing less of what we enjoy and more of that other stuff. 

I think my main problem is time.  I have things I want to do, which usually are overridden by things I need to do.  I try and steal extra hours by staying up into the early AM but this too often leads to sleeping at my computer, followed by miserable, grouchy days at work.  Instead of learning the GTD system, I seem to have mastered the art of getting nothing done.

I’m in search of ways to become more productive and change the 9–5 lifestyle so that I have more time to spend with the things I really care about in life, but progress is slow. Emails like the one I recieved about this old acquaintance passing away at an early age remind me of the urgency of figuring out time management & prioritization sooner, rather than later so we can take advantage of the time we have.

One of the things I spend time doing every day is reading what others have written about personal finance. Sometimes it’s the same information we’ve all heard before, other times I learn something new and useful. I probably need to re-evaluate how I read and filter information on the Web since it’s easy to get sidetracked online.

However, for now, here are some interesting money articles from last week:

– How to Eliminate Mutual Fund Deadbeats from your Portfolio @ Gen X Finance

– Create Your Own Dollar Plan @ My Dollar Plan 

– Bought Another Piece of Gold @ Suns Financial Diary

– Getting Organized for Tax Season @ Million Dollar Journey 

– Build A Business Before You Go Solo @ The Digerati Life

– Finovate Start-up Questions @ Lazy Man & Money

– Newest Problogger on the Block @ Brip Blap

– Tax Freedom Day @ Mighty Bargain Hunter

– The 10 Habits of the Prosperous @ Free Money Finance

– Debt Reduction Guide – Beyond the Basics @ No Credit Needed 

– The Future of Renewable Energy @ Five Cent Nickel

– Budgeting 101 @ The Simple Dollar

– 2008 Sales Tax Holiday Schedule @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

– Outrageous Cost of Storing Stuff @ Get Rich Slowly

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards