When it comes to taking care of ourselves we usually think of nourishing ourselves with the proper food, exercise and even stress management techniques.  We rarely add time management to the list.  Believe it or not, time management is an extremely useful and necessary tool in our lives.  When used correctly, time management enables us to live our lives with the utmost efficiency and satisfaction.  Think about it, when you try and “squeeze in a workout” rather than actually schedule it does it get done?  Or how about when you have 10 tasks to do in a limited amount of time, do you get them all done?  For most of us the answer is no.  Time management is a skill that can be learned very easily, it just takes patience, practice and an open-mind.

Now that you are on-board the time-management train I would like to provide you with some helpful tips you can implement into your daily routine immediately.  First, if you do not have an organizer or calendar already, go get one!  Once you have a place to write things in, go ahead and write.  Schedule your appointments, meetings, meals, workouts and projects/tasks.  I highly recommend you  make a “to do” list and organize it by order of importance.  Within your “to do” list you should establish your action steps which can also lead to setting goals. Please be realistic with your goal setting, otherwise you can wind up adding undue pressure upon yourself, which discounts the stress management component of your well-being.   Group like projects or tasks with like projects and tasks.   Cut back on as many unnecessary distractions or tasks as possible to enable you to use your time more efficiently and effective.   Remember to keep track of your improved time management by checking off the things you have completed on your “to do” list.

Good luck and remember, we always find a way to make time for things that are important to us!  If you need some additional support with time management checkout the Franklin Covey Institute’s Focus Course.