I’ve started reading Getting Things Done, by David Allen, and Your Money or Your Life, by a few people apparently…
Anyway, I am liking the resonance of Tolle’s Presence principal with the general impetus of becoming more conscious about how I spend my money and my time. In particular with Getting Things Done, David Allen really comes from a perspective of “presence.”
I’ve noted in the past that it’s fairly common for me to pass through the checkout of a grocery store and when I get to my car, realize I have no idea how much money I just spent. Sure, it’s rarely more than a single bag of groceries and usually not even that much, but still, it’s clear I’m missing consciousness fairly frequently in this regard. Funny…I likely spend far more time worrying about money that I spend actually engaged in activities of managing it consciously. (Budgeting and paying bills really doesn’t take that much time.)
While I’ve had a faithful planner and calendar (Franklin Covey system) with me at all times except the shower since I was in…college or maybe even high school, I haven’t taken it to the level of budgeting my time. It’s more of a giant in-box (to use Allen’s nomenclature), and I don’t really take the time to go through it unless I think of something specific that I need from it.
I just spent a few hours today with the 120-something-page packet I downloaded (free!) from FinancialIntegrity.org (the Money or Your Life peeps). It’s really useful and eye-opening, even if you think you’re pretty much on top of things. Now I just have to spend the next month writing down every single inflow and outflow…been meaning to do it for some time anyway. Maybe I’ll remember to be “conscious of my inner body” when I do it.

