Taking Inventory Of Your Life

This article was originally published on easystylewithsami.com.

Inventory is often something that is thought of in regards to physical products. What a store has and how it correlates with what it should have. For example, I have Color Street inventory that my customer purchase from me, that I affectionately call my stash. And every quarter or so I do a full inventory count to ensure that what I think I have on hand is what I actually have.

We do this in business because it helps us with our financials. It helps us understand the health of our business and what opportunity we may have to sell and make money. It helps us understand what we should market, promote, talk about. It can also give us insight into what our customers like most and what they aren’t ask excited about. What are you running low on and what opportunities are out there.

In service based businesses, inventory can be thought of as space in?an online or in person workshop or hours you or your team can give to customers and clients.

Have you ever thought of taking inventory of your life? How much your giving vs what you have to give. Are you spending time on the things that are getting you to your goals? Are you filling up space with things that don’t matter?

If it’s time to take inventory on your life – here is how you can get started!

Visit Your Personal Goals or Family Mission Statement

It starts with understanding where you’re going. Have you set goals for yourself or created a?family mission statement? If now, start there. Otherwise, pull them out and remind yourself. So often we set goals for ourselves only to forget what they are a few months or weeks later.

Some of my short term personal goals include:

?? shutting down my work day at 4:30 PM.

?? nightly family dinners.

?? date night every other week with my husband.

?? me time Saturday and Sunday mornings til 9:00 AM

?? plan and save for a family vacation in 2024.

?? set up business and personal finances to be able to buy a house in 2024.

?? work on feelings of guilt around self-care.

Understanding where you’re going will help you understand if where you spending your time is worth it.

Take Inventory of Where You’re Spending Time

How we spend our time is not always what we think. If you find you’re running out of time to do things finding time might be just as easy as doing a time audit.

For a full week, write down on paper (or digitally) all the things you do in a day. You don’t have to share it with anyone so be honest. Mark down the time you spend in the kitchen, scrolling Tiktok, working, answering personal emails, getting ready for the day, feed kids, etc.

Once you’ve done this take some time to review. You might be surprised what you find! Spending time on things that aren’t getting you towards your goals is the equivalent spending money on inventory that isn’t making you any money.

Be Real About What You Need

It might shock you but people can’t read your mind, and thank goodness for that! Communication is a vital part of keeping the right inventory. This includes communicating with your partner, kids, other family members, co-workers and even yourself.

Some days you know are going to be more taxing than others. Some days you’ll need others around you to pick up more of the slack and some days you’ll be able to take on more. For me, days that are filled with meetings take more out of me than when I can sit and get work done. There is no way those around me would know what kind of day I had unless I communicated that.

Create a communication plan in your family for people to share where they’re at with their emotional and mental inventory. The hardest part is meeting each person where they’re at.

Assign Tasks

One of the things that has stuck out for me in my time with therapists was when I was asked, “how did you and your partner determine household tasks? Did you talk about it or did it just happen?” What I realized is that some of the household responsibilities felt like they were unfair or that I felt guilt about some of the things on others’ plates.

Simply having a conversation about who is responsible for what can go a long way towards limiting frustration and animosity. With kids, its a great learning experience towards building expectation and helping them with life skills for when they’re on their own.

Eliminate Unnecessary Inventory

What are you doing during the day that isn’t filling your cup or getting you towards your goals. How are you overextending yourself? What are you doing because you feel guilt vs joy? It’s time to let go!

Helping out at my kids’ school was one of those things for me. Yes I want to be there for as much as I can to support them. What I learned from my kids is they didn’t want us to volunteer for everything. They enjoyed their independence and space. I no longer feel guilt about not being at all the things because we as a family have communicated needs. It will look differently for everyone, but what are you spending time on that isn’t critical or valuable?

Conclusion

Just like you would do for work – take stock on what you’re spending time, money, and energy on that isn’t getting you the life you want. Make the decisions that are uniquely right for you. Respect the same choices that those around you make for themselves.