Create a time “emergency fund”

You can’t really bank time, but you can make space for emergencies

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to create the time equivalent of an
emergency fund. If you read a lot of personal finance
literature or listen to personal finance podcasts like my favorite

(00:25):
How to Money, you're probably familiar with the concept of
a monetary emergency fund. Life happens. When it does, it
can be expensive. An emergency fund is easily accessed cash
that can cover an unexpected car repair, a broken pipe,
or anything like that. These things fall in the category

(00:46):
of known unknowns. You don't know exactly what unexpected expense
will arise, but you can be pretty sure something will happen.
Having savings means you can absorb the expense without going
into debt. This is why Dave Ramsey, for instance, advises
that even people with significant high interest debt save one

(01:06):
thousand dollars as their first step toward financial stability. That
baby steps emergency fund often keeps people from going deeper
into the hole. There are many parallels between time and money,
and I think this is one area we're seeing parallels
can lead to good choices, good time management. Means creating
the time equivalent of an emergency fund. This is easily

(01:30):
accessed time that you can deploy when something unexpected happens.
If you have this open time, then an emergency means
you don't need to borrow time from other priorities. You
have a place for the emergency to go. Slack in
your schedule means you stay on track. One of the
best ways to do this is to avoid scheduling things

(01:52):
for at least one multi hour block somewhere in the week.
Friday afternoon is a common choice to leave open, as
it tends not to be anyone's peak productivity window. If
nothing goes wrong during the week, great This open time
means you can quit early, But more likely your week
will go something like this. Your biggest client whose project

(02:13):
is due Thursday, we'll call on Wednesday morning with some
additional requests. This means that anything non urgent that is
scheduled for Wednesday will need to move. If Friday afternoon
is open, it can go there. You're still on track.
You end the week accomplishing exactly what you hoped to.
But if Friday afternoon is already packed, as is every

(02:35):
other minute of your week, then you start having to
borrow from future weeks which are equally packed. That's when
the time debt starts to add up and people feel overwhelmed.
So that's why open space is the easiest way to
create a time emergency fund. But there is one big
challenge with this. A financial emergency fund is there unless

(02:56):
you spend it. Even the wealthiest person, however, will see
his time emergency fund disappear once those minutes are in
the past. You can't borrow time now from a low
key week you experienced in two thousand five. You have
to keep creating a time emergency fund again and again.

(03:16):
But there is a more renewable form of a time
emergency fund, and that is banking time with other people.
Here's what I mean. Humans are a social reciprocal species,
which is a fancy way of saying that if you
do something nice for me, there is an extremely good
chance that I will do something nice for you if
you ask. This doesn't work for everyone. There are certainly

(03:38):
some sociopaths out there, but most people want to help
people who have helped them. So whenever you've got a
little extra capacity, reach out to people. Reach out to
your colleagues and see how you can help support them.
What of their work could you help make a little
bit lighter. You can do this in your personal life too.
If you've decided to take a school holiday off, for instance,

(04:00):
because you don't have a good child care option, see
if your neighbors or your kids friends need supervision that
day too. You've banked favors and now at work, for instance,
when your big client has last minute requests, your colleague
will happily cover your Wednesday meetings. You've relied on a
time emergency fund and you're still on track. Life is

(04:22):
full and life is calm. So how will you create
a time emergency fund? What time slot will you leave open?
And what favors will you do for the people in
your life who are currently feeling overwhelmed. Take some time
to think about it and put some time in the
bank in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

(04:43):
and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at before Breakfast pod

(05:04):
that's B the number four, then Breakfast p O D.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

(05:26):
a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.