10 Ways to Take Back Your Time

I've divided my tips into two sections - 5 ways to manage your time and 5 ways to take back your time. Both offer daily or regular practices to try out in your life right now.

The first section focuses more on easing the time pressures in your life, to deal with all of the things you've gotten yourself into ;)

The second section focuses on making overall changes to your life. When you take back your time you also take back your CHOICE. When we're feeling time pressured and stressed out it's easy to forget that we have any say in the matter. And we do!

5 WAYS TO MANAGE YOUR TIME

1. Choose specific times to look at email during the day - seeing emails as they come in can really distract you from what you're trying to accomplish and you'll end up losing time as you go back and forth between activities.

2. The 15-minute strategy. This not only helps motivate you by breaking down large jobs into smaller pieces, it also makes good use of your time. The strategy is to spend 15-minutes on a task and then move on the next. You can come back to the first one as many times as you need to until it's done.

3. Find a system that works for you for making and meeting deadlines and appointments - a calendar or day-timer. I use a Palm Pilot and have been really happy with it.

4. Plan and cook meals ahead of time. A huge time-saver and also makes it much easier to eat healthier. It could be as simple as cooking an extra portion of dinner and having it for lunch the next day, or you could plan out seven days at a time (which is what I do).

5. Keep up with things - whether it's tidying up your papers, doing the dishes or working on a report, doing things a bit at a time (see tip #2) instead of letting them pile up to the point of taking you all day, is much more manageable.

5 WAYS TO TAKE BACK YOUR TIME

1. Set and keep your boundaries - if you work for someone else, be clear about over-time and taking work home with you. If you work for yourself, establish the times of day that are no-work zones; good places to start are breaks for meals and deciding when you will start and stop work for the day.

2. Make one day a week "timeless" ? rise and shine when you feel like it, eat when you're hungry and let your inner child (or your actual child!) plan your day's activities. Warning: This may conflict with the tip below ;)

3. Cut your t.v. time - try limiting it to one hour per day. Or try cutting it out completely for one week.

4. Buddy up and find someone to take back time with. Whether it's your spouse, best friend, family member or work colleague, if you're both committed you won't let each other bow out.

5. Take your holidays! Whether you're self-employed or work for someone else it's important to take time off to rejuvenate. You will be more productive for it in the long run.

Where do you need to take back time in your life? Where do you need to manage your time better?

(c) Copyright 2005, Genuine Coaching Services.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, is the author of "The Everyday Self-Care Workbook". To receive one of her free monthly newsletters, subscribe at http://www.genuinecoaching.com/newsletter.html

---

Time Management: How to Stay Motivated and Get More Done

If you can motivate yourself at will to get any... Read More

Looking At Time With A Capital T

I keep a fossil on my desk at all times.... Read More

How To Better Handle Your Mail

Letters, magazines, bills, flyers, what to do with them all.... Read More

Where Do Your Priorities Fit?

An expert in time management was speaking to a group... Read More

Todays Overload: Tommorrow

Whatever providence has in store for us tomorrow is not... Read More

Work at Home Moms: Time Management Tips

"How do you DO it?!" If I had a dime... Read More

Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last... Read More

Talkin About Chicken

Yesterday, I'd just gotten comfortable at my favorite table in... Read More

The Ultimate Virtual Reality

I used to think video game addictions were a joke... Read More

Procrastination - Understanding & Overcoming it

Whenever I've worked on 'de-cluttering' my living or working space,... Read More

The Myth of What We Manage

Perhaps it is merely semantics, but an underlying problem I... Read More

Do You Put a Value on Your Time?

As a small business owner, does the following paragraph sound... Read More

Time Management - Working Smarter at Work

Let's look at your time management skills. Most of us... Read More

File It: Boost Your Productivity in Only 15 Minutes Per Week

Despite the best of intentions, most of us don't use... Read More

Are You Always Late?

"Fashionably late" is no longer in fashion. In today's heavily... Read More

How Would You Like to Capture Some Time?

Women's health issues often are focused on goals to reach:... Read More

3 Ways To Do More With Less Time

We live in a world where more is expected of... Read More

New Adventures - in Four Hours a Day

"Can you find four extra hours in your day?" a... Read More

Time Management: Analysis is the Key to Mastery

If you're like most people, you want to get better... Read More

Whats Keeping You At The Office (9 Tips To Get Home Quicker)

"Work smarter, not harder" is a cliché that has darted... Read More

Prioritize Your Life for Success

Today, it is hard to open an e-mail newsletter, a... Read More

Time Management: Setting up your Schedule for Success

Would you describe yourself as extremely busy? Do you often... Read More

Effective Email and Verses Voicemail

Time management consultant Stephen Young claims that the average time... Read More

Prioritize with Two Questions

"Because there will always be something more to do, we... Read More

Sprint Through Your Workday, Even if Youre a Marathoner

Whenever you have projects that can't be done in one... Read More

Measure Your Time Against Active Inactivity

We don't realize many things we do until we draw... Read More

10 Time Management Tips for Busy Professionals

If you feel like your life moves faster than a... Read More

Managing Worry: Productivity Tips for High Achievers Who Worry

Are you a worrier? Do you frequently spend time and... Read More

Making the Best Use of Your Time

Time - it is the one thing that we are... Read More

You Cant Buy Time

Our daily lives are inundated with a crammed to-do list.... Read More

Sharpen The Saw

Sometime ago, my lovely wife woke me up in the... Read More

Top 10 Ways to Manage Yourself - Time Wise

"Time management" is a myth. Time ticks by, whether you... Read More

24 Time Management Tips

Where does your time go? We all know we are... Read More