subject: Do You need More Time in Your Day? Here are 8 Steps You Can Take Now [print this page] Do You need More Time in Your Day? Here are 8 Steps You Can Take Now
Do you find yourself with more duties than day? Do you always seem to be playing catch up? Does your to-do list never seem to shrink? Are you stressed over how youmanage your time? Here are eight steps you can take right now to help you regain control of your time.
Eliminate major time wasters. At the top ofmost listsis television. The average American watches 5 hours of TV a day. That is equal to an amazing 6 full days in front of the TVevery month.Could you use almost an extra week every month? Turn off the television and find out.
Keep a time log. Write down what you do and for how long each day for the next seven days. This will give you a good idea where your time goes. You need a budget to save money. You can't develop a time budget if you aren't really sure how you are spending it.
Cut back on possessions. Biggerliving spacesand more stuff come withtwice the price: the initial cost to purchase them and then the time to maintain them. A simpler lifestyle frees up time previously spent on vacuuming, fixing, and replacing all that stuff. If you downsize enough you may be able to work less because you are buying less stuff.
Consolidate yourerrands. Making several trips in the car to run errands wastes time.You may find you can do everything in one trip instead of two or three. Can you wait until tomorrow? How about running errands only four days a week instead of six? You will save both time and money.
Go on anInternet and e-mail diet. Your time log will probably show that you're spending a big chunk of your time checking your e-mail, tweets, Facebook page, or just web surfing without a real purpose. Ifso go on an electronic diet. Spend time at the sites that are important to you or help you solve a problem. Ditch the mindless wandering from site to site. You lose weight by cutting calories. You gain time by cutting back the time youwaste on the computer.
Do some chores at night instead of weekends. Some of that time you are not spending in front of the TV is now freed up for chores you usually do on weekends. Invest 30 minutes one or two nights a weekand save more of your weekend for relaxing, having fun, being with family and friends or working on something you enjoy. Weekends are not supposed to be workends.
Say "No" tosome of the requests for your time. Of course it is good to help those who need your assistance, just not to excess, It is important to learn to say "No" to things that you really don't want to do.Be unavailable if someone is overusing your generous nature. If you volunteer be a little choosier about whatprojectsyou accept..Realize you are sacrificing your time to give someone else more. Some sacrifice is good but a lot is probably not. Abstain more often.
Re-think routines and habits.Every morning I used to spend an hour reading two newspapers. It finally dawned on me that is when I'm most productive. To spend all that time on something I could do later in the daywas a misuse of my time. Changing that habit has made a tremendous difference in what I can accomplish before lunch. How much of your schedule is habit instead of what is most productive? Take a look at yourtime log for anything that might produce better results if you make a change.
Time is the most valuable resource we have. What you do with that resource can be the difference between a life that is stressful and unfulfilled, or one that is satisfying and productive. What is your time plan?
