I) When is your most productive time of the day? Do you know? Are you an early morning person, getting your best work done before the office fills up? Do you work up to a peak by mid morning after you've settled in and got the junk of the way. Or are you a night bird, burning the mid-night oil to produce your best results? If you don't know it will benefit you immensely to find out. You can then exploit your most productive time to the hilt. Plan to do the most demanding tasks when you are at your best. Schedule those important but routine tasks when you are at your worst - the things that can be done on autopilot.

I discovered the hard way. I eventually found (to my surprise) that my best time was between 7am and 9am. For a long time I would be sat virtuously at my desk in the office often well before 7am. What did I use the time for? Catch up, clearing backlogs, emails, reviews, answering correspondence. The most boring but the least demanding tasks which could easily be pushed into my own personal graveyard slot. Eventually, I caught on and started to do the most important and urgent stuff at the start of the day. It got to the point almost that if it didn't get done before 9am then there was a massive chance it won't get done at all.

I've just introduced this as a homeworker too. I get up at 6am when the house is asleep and do my best work then. I'm no work alcoholic though - I will more than likely reward myself with an hour off in my graveyard slot - late afternoon - a walk, a read, even a nap!.

II)The 80/20 rule - make it work for you. The Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule simply says: 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes. For time management this can be viewed as getting 80% of your results from 20% of your work. But you know this don't you? Think about a typical day and how much time you spend on unproductive jobs, tasks that have nothing to show for them. Of course you do the valuable stuff too but I'll bet there's a good chance that this valuable stuff takes up a much smaller proportion of your time. And the very fact that it is valuable implies that it will probably produce results worth a lot more than the rest of the unproductive stuff put together. Imagine how life would be if you could turn on its head the 80/20 rule and spend 80% of your time on the things that really matter, that bear fruit, that are highly valued by you and your organisation.

The secret? Prioritise! Ask yourself constantly: Why am I doing this? What is the value? Challenge yourself: Am I doing this just because I enjoy it more than something else? Am I doing it because it is easy and I can't face the next big job? Always check out the alternatives: Can this be done by someone else? Does this need to be done at all? And remember, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it.

III) Say NO! Close cousin to the Pareto principle is the art of simply saying no. I don't just mean saying no to extra assignments, I mean saying no to telephone calls, emails, unscheduled meetings and quite simply interruptions full stop. OK, so you've decided to rotate the Pareto principle, prioritise assertively and spend 80% of your time doing stuff that really makes a difference. But what actually happens is the telephone rings, you answer it and suddenly you've agreed to sort out something that very afternoon (Did you ask yourself is it valuable, delegatable, easy, enjoyable?). And how valuable is it compared with the task you started to do? Same goes for those blinking (literally!) emails. How often do you check them? Every 15 minutes or so? And even if you don't act upon them, you may well feel obliged to answer them or at the very least as you turn back to the job in hand, your head is still buzzing with their distracting aftermath. The art of saying no is a whole workshop in itself, but for now the best tips I can give you are as follows:

• Plan your day to give you some decent chunks of uninterrupted time. Say a number of one-two hour slots

• Switch off the computer and put the phone on voicemail during these precious slots.

• Physically take yourself away from potential interruptions. Shut the door, work in a meeting room, work at home even

• Schedule in some slots for interruption time as part of your daily routine. Catch up on emails and voicemails, take phone calls, operate an open door policy for visitors

• Communicate your new regime. If your colleagues build in discipline to their access to you it might help them in regulating their own regimes

* Are you living life at an ever increasing pace?
* Do you feel as though you are reacting to events and other people in all aspects of your life?
* Do you feel as though you have little or no control of your time?
* Do you feel you have a lack of choice about things - feel disempowered?
* Do you take time to think about what is important to you?

I was running a training programme for a number of middle ranking people with a large global organisation. In common with many of us, the attendees would have answered the questions above with a "yes" in nearly every case, apart from the last one! How many of you would do the same? Part way through the programme, I signed onto my email and amongst them was one with an attachment labelled "Slow Dance", (written by David Weatherford). The verse below gives a clue as to the overall tone of the poem.

Do you run through each day on the fly

When you ask "How are you?", do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

As we restarted after lunch, I read the whole poem to the group as it reinforced the underlying philosophy of the programme. When I finished there was a long silence while people thought about what they had just heard - before asking me to repeat it! We then had a great discussion about how it struck home to so many and what they would do to slow down!

It led me to think about how so many of us live in such a frenetic and disempowered way that we loose sight of what is important to us. We allow other people and events to own our lives! Perhaps we find this more comfortable as it means we do not have to take responsibility for our actions and reactions? We overlook one of the most powerful things we have available - CHOICE!

* We choose what activities we do, based on our values and beliefs (including the limiting beliefs which are often holding us back).
* We choose our emotions and responses to people or situations.
* We choose our values and priorities in life - and how we spend our time

The challenge is to accept we have choice. This puts responsibility right back with us! We have to stop blaming others for causing our feelings or "making" us behave in certain ways. We have to stop feeling as though we are stuck with a particular employer, boss or situation. To do this we have to accept and own this responsibility. For many it is truly liberating - and empowering. For others it is scary - even terrifying!

Learning new skills in order to develop more choices can transform your life. e.g. Recognising that you can choose your emotions can stop you carrying lousy feelings with you for the day. Taking them home to transfer them to your partner or children can become a thing of the past. Start to behave more assertively at work so that you no longer accept other people controlling your time, or giving you so much to do that you frequently work late or take work home can make you, and those around you, a lot happier!

A challenge for many of us, is to learn to value our own time and to realise that it is our time. To quote Peter Drucker, "Time is a perishable resource and cannot be stored. There is no substitute for time, it is irreplaceable!" Think about this, and what difference it can make to your life if you choose to adopt the message and begin to treat time as important and valuable.

Remember it is your life - you can choose to own it! Sometimes, starting on this journey can be cathartic and painful - breaking through this to the empowered future is worth it.

I know for me, I treasure the fact that I own what I do with my time (and how I choose to respond to client demands on my time compared with the "home" needs). I feel more centred by recognising my emotions and responses are MINE. If I find myself becoming annoyed or frustrated - it is my choice to let this continue, or to change it. The result, I am much calmer, give people around me more time - and love the fact that I own my own life.

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. H. Jackson Brown

There aren’t enough hours in the day. Have you heard yourself say this, and say it often? I have had a chance to listen to the challenges faced by employees and business owners alike who are working very hard to succeed, often at the cost of their personal lives.

What, if any, of it is possible? What if you had time for those things that are important to you and that would help you achieve your goals? First of all, time cannot be managed; it flows. When you learn to lead and manage yourself to integrate all areas of your life, you will find it’s not something you specifically need to do. Imagine that all those feelings of panic, procrastination, and being in a hurry were not in your life

Take a look at the following and you can begin to feel relaxed knowing that you can be organized and plan routines that are flexible. Feeling out of control comes when you have lost touch with what is important to you and you end up doing too much of what doesn’t matter or doing nothing.

Begin by finding your center. Know what you want and what you don't want and act accordingly. Lack of planning, prioritizing, and focus aren’t going to move you toward vision and will inhibit momentum. Take time to stop! Breathe deeply and reboot your brain. Make a long list of everything that needs to be done. Go through the entire list and rate each item in order of its value and immediacy, with ten as the highest priority and one as the lowest. Take all the 7-10s and go to work. Ask yourself if you can leave the 1-6s off the list for now. Be passionate about what you're doing. If you love it, then you can do it. Remember to enjoy the process of growing your business. It's why you got started in the first place.

Avoid procrastination – just do something. All the time you spend worrying about the different things you have to do is self-defeating. The more time you spend worrying, putting things off, and spinning your wheels, the more you add to your workload. Watch how quickly that pile on your desk disappears when you stop killing time and actually attack it or tackle your list.

Don’t wait until it’s perfect. So many people don't turn in work, never get things done, or never start a business because they're waiting until it's perfect. Life isn't perfect. You have to take a risk. Maybe you'll make a wrong decision, but you have to make the decision and move on.

Decide what you can give up. This is an important decision. Don’t try to please everyone, have everyone like you, or be a star at the expense of your health. Avoid an addiction to adrenaline. What can you delegate to others?

Practice organization and tidiness. Clutter zaps time and energy! You not only feel less able to work effectively, it also takes more time to sort through things when you need them. Clutter can distract you, and do you need any more distractions? Is too much time being spent on doing the same thing repeatedly? Simplify!

Rethink meetings. If you find yourself in an unavoidable meeting, make sure that your time is well spent. Try scheduling 20-minute meetings, either 20 minutes before lunch or 20 minutes before the end of the day. People want to go to lunch, and they want to go home.

Minimize interruptions. Make appointments with yourself to do certain things and do not allow interruptions to pull you away from those important things. Focus on one specific thing at a time.

Make time to have fun. Remember that for which you're working. You started a business in order to enjoy your life more fully, not to be at the mercy of anyone else's schedule. Scheduling fun time to relax is just as important as scheduling that management meeting. It will refresh you and give you the energy you need to tackle more work. How to do it? Schedule it.

Treasure your family time. If all you can squeeze in is an hour a day and they give you all their love and you give them the same back, this is what you need. That's quality time. Support each other in your endeavors.

Don't dwell on the past. This is self-defeating. It brings up memories and the brain interprets it as happening now. It crushes creativity and positive flow.

Learn to know and respect your energy level. Some people only need four hours of sleep each night, and others need seven. If you only need four hours, maybe you can write poetry or train for a marathon between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. But if you need seven hours, try to get that much rest, and stop feeling like a slacker. Balancing is about having and doing the most you can, and enjoying yourself in the process.

Learn to say NO. Taking on too much can put more pressure on you and prevent you from working at your best. Do not allow others to ask too much of you; your time is valuable, you decide how you spend it.

Take time for yourself. Step back, evaluate, and energize yourself to be effective. You are more effective if you are not doing, doing, and doing and just take time to listen to your inner wisdom.

Learn to time block. My main learning, or coping, strategy is to do things in blocks. Writing an article is one block. Reading and responding to emails is another. You can use a calendar, electronic calendar, Microsoft Outlook®, or whatever you have. Here’s an example of a week’s time blocking in a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet. I use color-coding for different themes. Action Steps: ACTION STEPS: Now take time to design your own time blocking method. Remember that each block is an appointment time. Be sure to include:

Ø Time for projects

Ø Administration

Ø Family

Ø Spirituality

Ø Appointments with others

Remember your appointment blocks are your appointment to commit to a task, and are just as important to make as appointments with others. They are appointments with yourself, to do what you need to do. Take a moment to review all of these management skills. You are now free to make choices about what, if anything, you want to change.

Which management skills do you need to work with to have a more balanced life? What steps can you take today?

Improve your time management, and improve your new year. With just a success tips from the pros, you can help make the upcoming new year more successful than the year before. Because managing time requires basic management skills as well as knowing important timing issues.

Lead

When running your day-to-day operations at work and at home, it is important to take charge. It is also important to be enthusiastic about your enterprises and any new ideas you are proposing. Because the more enthusiastic you truly are at heart, the more you can put into your projects and the more you can get out of them.

Make Decisions

You need to be able to make educated decisions. Begin by being organized and using a successful planning system like Miscrosoft’s Outlook calendar and / or Franklin Covey’s print planners and planning software (that is compatible with Outlook and handhelds) to help you prioritize tasks and complete them in a timely manner.

Note that decision-making is a skill that can be learned, like with Outlook and Franklin Covey guides and other learning tools. And decisions that are planned are usually the wisest.

Manage Time

Everyone has the same number of hours in a day. It’s what you do with them that counts. To be more effective, study what the pros in your industry do with their time. Get help from a mentor or coach, if possible. Or attend a workshop or seminar in your industry to learn more. Then practice, practice, practice. No need to re-make the wheel. Simply follow along in a similar manner of that of your coach or mentor. Customize your own plans, priorities and task scheduling. Then tackle your plan and adjust as needed.

Stay Informed

Keeping up with your chosen field is critical for survival among your competitors. You need to keep abreast of changes and news by reading industry / niche ezines and participating in their forums as well.

Use Technology

Likewise, you need to do your best to keep with technological advances. Learn email, attachments, basic web page building, how to post on forums, basic Internet marketing for your business, basic web searching to use the Internet wisely, etc. Enroll in any number of courses either locally at colleges or universities or online to continue your education. For example, Ohio-based Mindleaders.com offers online course modules that you can take from anywhere 24/7.

In short, by following these simple guidelines, you can help ensure success with your time management. Keep on top of the issues and never stop learning. Hone your leadership and decision making skills. And these will help take your where you want to go.

It is always a surprise as to how a simple homemaker is able to manage a myriad of different activities without any formal training whereas a manager is not able to do it even with all his/her fancy degrees. How do they do it? The homemaker knows a simple technique – time management. Managers can manage people, budgets, etc but when it comes to time they are not very good at managing it. Management training programs and management training courses can help you learn the skill of time management.

As any management training manual will tell you, time is a very precious resource. The reason why it is so precious is because it is a limited resource. Once spent you cannot get it back. That is why it is very important to use it as judiciously as possible. Unfortunately one thing that the management training manual will not tell you is that managing time is not that difficult if it were not for one factor - people. For example you go into a meeting thinking it will last only ten minutes and come out an hour later. All your planning goes haywire. So, how can you manage your time effectively?

Attend any management training program or management training course and the first tip that they will give you is – Planning. ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’, goes an old saying. That is very much true in time management. Planning involves setting time limits to your tasks. It can be a minor one or a major one. This is specially needed if you are a procrastinator. You cannot afford to be one if you are going to be a manager. Prioritize your tasks. Obviously, you can’t do everything at once so decide on which task is most important and needs to be completed fastest. Also, set it right. For instance sometimes your personal tasks may coincide with your professional. It is up to you to decide as to which is more important; personal or professional. Or if both cannot be avoided, you can at least decide as to which can be postponed. Delegation of work is something that most of us avoid doing.

Ask anyone running a management training program or management training course, it is just a sheer waste of time to try and do everything yourself. You have subordinates to whom you can delegate work. They are there so that you can delegate work to them. Nobody expects or wants you to do all the work yourself. That is only going to harm your productivity. Helping others is great but as anyone who has attended a management training program or management training course will tell you it is a waste of time if you have not finished your work. You have to learn to say no. You can help others provided you have the time for it. You cannot do it at the cost of your work suffering. And, what about the waste of time when you are making calls to your friends or taking an extended break at the coffee machine. Everyone needs a break but it should be a break and not become a session by itself.

You may have seen people managing time effectively by other people and you too can be successful. Management training will teach you that time management is different for different people and so is it for different projects. You cannot drive a car like you ride a bicycle or a bike. Similarly you cannot use the same time management strategies that you use for small projects in large projects. The inadequacies that can be ignored in a smaller project will appear bigger in a larger one and cannot be ignored. So it is imperative to use different strategies for different projects. Long term objectives cannot be ignored just because you have some immediate task to be finished. Your time management strategy should be such that you can allot some time for achieving your long term objective as well. If you feel that you are not able to manage your time effectively then it is a better idea to take help from a professional. Sign up for management training programs or courses which will help you in devising strategies for time management.

A lack of assertiveness can cause many problems in day-to-day living yet it is something that many of us have problems dealing with. The most common problems that stem from a lack of assertiveness are stress and anxiety. Learning how to be more assertive and how to say “no” is a huge step towards gaining more self-confidence and dealing with other people much more easily.

Traits which are common to the unassertive person

Almost everyone that has a problem with un-assertiveness suffers from a huge amount of empathy, which means they will take into account and worry more about other people’s thoughts and feelings more than they do their own. While a certain amount of empathy is a good trait, too much causes many problems for some people when it comes to saying the simple word “no”. People suffering from an over abundance of empathy will find it extremely difficult to say “no” to others and usually those requesting favors know this and many times the person is taken advantage of. Just remember the next time a colleague or friends asks you to swap a shift or you are asked to do a favor of any kind that your time is just as valuable as those asking you for the favor. If it is no big deal then fair enough but if you had other plans to spend that time then learn how to say “No”.

The trick to learning how to say NO

Learning to be more assertive is not something you can do easily overnight, there isn’t any magic wand which you can wave and you wake up the next morning with a different attitude. You will have to practise saying “no” and many times in the beginning, although you appear confident and think you can do it before the confrontation, you will find yourself drifting back to your old ways and hear yourself say “yes”. Here are a couple of helpful points to get you started on the road to assertiveness.

Practice at home

Start off by practicing your assertiveness when home alone, you can do this in the mirror, by doing this you will simply get used to using the word “no” until it begins to roll off your tongue much more easily. Once you are a little more familiar with the word then practise with close friends and relations, whatever you are asked to do the politely but firmly decline. If it is something you wish to take part in then you can always change your mind later but for now, you are simply practising using the word with people you feel comfortable around, which will make it so much easier.

Make sure you understand their request

If you are asked for a favour then resist the temptation to say, “Yes” immediately without first fully understanding what is being asked of you. Get as much information as you possible can and then consider it before making a decision, never feel pressured into giving an answer there and then, if need be say that you need time to think about it before giving your answer.

The secret to managing time successfully is being able to manage yourself, although we often think we don’t waste a minute of our time in reality this is far from true and there are many ways which we can manage ourselves more efficiently which ultimately leads to more successful time management. In order to successfully manage time there are strategies which you can use to stay more in control and relieve stress which plays a big factor in successful time management.

1. Attempting to do too much – in today’s busy world many people want things done yesterday and this only leads to rushing around and not doing a task properly, it also leads to mistakes and half-finished work with no real feeling of having accomplished anything with your time.
2. A lack of priorities – this is the single biggest cause of time wasting, in order to successfully manage time we have to know exactly what our priorities are for the day, by not prioritizing we spend too much time on the minor things and not enough time on the important ones.
3. Interruptions – we all get interruptions in our day, this could be someone dropping in and asking if you have a minute to spare, which usually turn into a half hour or more. Knowing how to successfully deal with interruptions in your daily life is essential to time management.
4. Procrastination – thinking about what you have to do instead of actually getting on and doing it is one of the biggest time wasters in your day, reduce the amount of time that you spend thinking and this leaves you more time for doing.
5. Learn to say “no” - many of us just cannot say the words “no” when asked if we mind doing something, this is usually out of fear of upsetting the other person, but if you are taking on the responsibilities of others then you are taking time away from your own workload or tasks and essentially robbing yourself of that precious time which leads to stressing you out.
6. Clutter – look around your desk or workspace, do you know where everything is? If you are asked for a file can you lay your hands on it or do you have to go rummaging to find it?, a cluttered desk or workspace is a time waster.
7. Set deadlines for yourself – work out a reasonable deadline for a particular project and make sure that you stick with the deadline.
8. Manage your e-mails and phone calls - where possible manage when you read your e-mails and take phone calls better, this was you are not continually breaking off to answer a call or reply to an e-mail. Set aside certain times when you check your e-mail and reply to them, the same applies to phone calls, it is surprising how much time can be wasted throughout a day by stopping and starting a project or task.
9. Use an activity planner – setting your day out in a planner can help you save time, a planner will allow you to allocate tasks to time slots and this way you can plan your day out and maximize your time more efficiently.
10. Avoid multi-tasking – starting many different projects at the same time is not a very efficient way of managing time, try to complete one project before starting out on another, this gives you the satisfaction of seeing the project complete and knowing you have accomplished something with your time.

Taking care of a young baby, running your own business, and training for a marathon takes a lot of planning, flexibility, determination, and drive. So, over the past few months I have come up with a proven method for doing all three and have still managed to maintain my sanity, and a decent sleep schedule. Here are a few steps I recommend...

1. Plan your day. With a young baby this can be a bit of a challenge but it is critical. Writing down everything you are going to do every day and having a plan will allow you to be flexible when things do not go as you hoped.

2. Be consistent. If you ask any successful athlete what has contributed to their success, 9 out of 10 will say being consistent with their training has been a major factor. This does not mean you have to go out and do hard work outs every day or that you cannot miss a run; however, it does mean that you need to remain on track and run as much as you can whenever you can. It is not the single workout but the repeated effort that gets results.

3. Forgive yourself if you miss a workout. Do not waste any time or energy on feeling guilty. Just pick it up again tomorrow. If you find you are consistently missing 2 or more workouts a week, reevaluate your schedule and change it up a bit. Maybe try working out in the morning instead of in the afternoon when the business of the day seems to pile up.

4. Hire a babysitter. If you are dying to do a long trail run and you cannot find anyone who can help you out, hire a babysitter and get out there. It may seem like a crazy way to spend money but you will enjoy every minute of it and it will do wonders for your motivation. Sometimes all we need to stay motivated for the week is one amazing run.

5. Work out at the same time every day. Make it a habit that is part of your schedule and that your baby or child comes to expect. I used to work out at random times during the day, whenever I could fit it in and my little girl Dylan was "ready". I found that my day felt very fractured and I never got into a groove. Now, I work out at the same time every day and Dylan runs with me and expects it like she expects her daily naps.

6. Eat well, drink a lot of water, and stretch. These three things alone will help you run better, run more, and recover quickly.

7. Find a running buddy. Hook up with someone who is on a similar "road" as you. You can both strap your kids into the jogging strollers and head for the hills. I always find I come up with my best ideas when I am running and it is great to be able to share the joys, stresses, and victories of life with someone else. Some of the best relationships I have with people began when we would run together. Also, it is much harder to bail on a run when someone is waiting on you.

8. Have fun. Just because you have a million other things going on and it took everything you had to get out for your run, remember to have fun and to continue to connect with why you run in the first place. Running is a joy and a gift and it makes you feel more alive than you have ever felt. Slow down and enjoy the ride.

As a new "stay at home" mom with my own business and another job, I often find myself collapsing into bed every evening, barely recalling the events of the day. The more roles we juggle, such as mom, wife, business owner, working professional, etc., the more we need to remember that our own health and well-being makes all that we do possible. So, give yourself 25 minutes each day (even more if you can) where you focus entirely on yourself. It will do wonders for your heart and your mind. Here are five 5-minute exercises in self-care I recommend:

1. Before you bound out of bed in the morning, lie there for 5 minutes and forgive yourself for all you wish you had accomplished yesterday but were not able to do. Pat yourself on the back for everything you did do and give thanks for all of the people inyour life, all of your unique talents and abilities, the sun, the snow, and the world around you. Feel how great it is to wake up and have the hope of a new day in front of you.

2. As you are cruising through mid morning, take a 5 minute break. You can close your office door, take a walk down the hallway, or hide in your bathroom (if you have kids) and drink a nice big, cold bottle of water. It will rejuvenate you and give you a little energy boost. The 5 minutes you spend reconnecting and feeling present will give you the strength you need to get things done.

3. During lunchtime, take a walk. Even if you only have 5 minutes, get outside and walk. Move quickly and get your heart pumping. Release any stress you are feeling and enjoy the sunshine, rain, or snow that is showering down upon you. Appreciate the idea that you are connected to all things and the air you breathe is uniting you with all things. Take this time to set an intention for your afternoon. How do you hope to spend your time, what do you hope to accomplish? Keep your thoughts focused on the future and stay positive.

4. After your work day, refill on some colorful fruits and vegetables. It will make you feel great - better than adding any toxins to an already overworked body! Then, talk to your spouse, partner, kids, etc. about the highlights of your day. Let everyone talk about the good things that happened and feel the positive energy fill the house. Make this a daily practice and you will see a change in your life. I used to practice this with an old boyfriend. Every night we would say to the other “high and low” and no matter what we were doing, we took a break to share the highs and lows of our day. It not only encouraged us to connect and take a break, but it reminded us that something great happened today and something good would happen again tomorrow.

5. Before you fall asleep, take 5 minutes to review the day and then let it go. Do not worry about the day to come - just be thankful for all you experienced today and feel grateful for the hope of tomorrow.

Practice these simple steps to make a big difference!

Of the essential elements it takes to start and grow a profitable business – a concept, money, a plan, talent, and time – only one is in limited supply. No matter how great the idea, how much money you have, how well you plan, or how talented you may be, you will never have more than 24 hours in any given day. Rich or poor, genius or dunce, it makes no difference.

A concept, an idea for a winning product or service? Well, if you don’t have one of your own, there are sources from which you can legitimately acquire one.

Money? Whatever you need, if you can suitably justify that need, there are sources willing to lend it to you, or invest in you.

A sound business plan? If you’re unable to develop one on your own, there are sources willing to help. For a fee, true, but they’re available.

As for talent, businesses large and small have for centuries hired whatever talent they’ve needed. A CEO, CFO, perhaps a COO? They’re available. Middle managers? They’re available, too. People to do the actual work? Yes, occasionally even good ones – if you look long and hard enough.

But time? There are only 24 hours in any day. OK, perhaps a few seconds more if you want to get technical. But your day is basically limited to 24 hours. Can you make time? Guys of my generation thought so. In fact, “making time” was something we enjoyed – though it had little to do with business.

Can you save time? We often say we can. And we often try. But does that make it true? You might run an errand during your lunch hour rather than after work. Having done so, you tell yourself you saved a half hour.” But did you? Is there actually a bank somewhere into which you can actually deposit and save those 30 minutes?

It’s about time you asked yourself what your time is worth. To your business, to the people who depend on you, to yourself? Isn’t it about time you made the most of your time? Whether it’s for family, for friends, for play, or for work, now is the best time to make the best use of your time.

Contrary to the popular expression, you don’t want to “spend your time” merely doing things – invest your time in accomplishing things, meaningful things. Put time to work for you. Do with it what you will, but do it wisely – because at most you have only 24 hours in any day.

Starting your own Internet home based business can be the best career move you ever make. No other occupation, self-employed or otherwise, can give you the freedom and flexibility you get when you work at home online. You can relax and enjoy working at home in peace managing your time to suit yourself and just concentrate on the important goal of earning money.

Anyone who works at home online will tell you that even though you might spend all your working time completely on your own without even speaking to another human being, you will still encounter enemies who will do their utmost to steal your most valuable commodity: time. There are two particular villains you need to watch out for, they are procrastination and loss of focus. If you let either one of them into your life, you will find time vanishing with nothing left to show for the lost hours.

Most people will admit to allowing procrastination to steer them off course at times. If you know you have to perform a task you don't enjoy, it is only human to wish to postpone it and do something more enjoyable. The Internet is full of enjoyable distractions just a click away from where you are working. If you want to succeed with your Internet home based business, you can't afford to give in to the temptation to procrastinate. The unwavering exercise of self discipline is essential for effective time management.

You can strengthen your self discipline by creating a protective force field around yourself. This is done by making a list of each task you need to complete during the day. Tick off each task as you complete it and allow yourself a small reward in the form of a coffee break or exercise break or even just an imagined congratulatory pat on the back. Then continue with the next task. As long as you stay on the list, the force field will remain intact and procrastination will be unable to attack you or influence you in any way. If you set one foot off the list, the force field will be breached and that old thief, procrastination, will grab you by the ankle and drag you off into the deep dark Internet forest in less time than it takes to blink.

Procrastination is pretty easy to spot but loss of focus is sneaky. Loss of focus pops out from behind trees and beckons you to make a detour from your planned route. Loss of focus wears many disguises ranging from irresistibly friendly to impressively businesslike. If you manage to catch the bandit and strip away the disguise, you will see the ugly little gremlin for what it really is. If you let loss of focus lead you off the path, you will find yourself miles from home without a trail of breadcrumbs to help you retrace your steps. The minutes will seem to flash by in fast forward and you might even hear a faint gremlin chuckle as your working day is devoured.

There is one sure weapon that will keep you safe from the loss of focus gremlins. It isn't really a stun gun, but it acts like one against these gremlins. Fortunately, the weapon is free and you will already have it in your possession - it is the bookmark button on your computer. Never make eye-contact or try to negotiate with loss of focus. Immediately he pops up, just zap him with the bookmark button and he will disappear from your working hours. Better still, he will be held captive until you have finished your work and are ready to deal with him at a time of your choice. Don't be afraid to zap loss of focus any time he puts in an appearance, it won't hurt him and you will sometimes find that this enemy has been transformed into a useful ally through a few hours confinement in your bookmarks folder.

There is no substitute for self discipline in time management when you are trying to earn a living online but backing it up with a couple of free weapons, will help to keep self discipline strong.

Is that really a word, "unmanagement" ?

"Sorry, we have no matches for unmanagement", well I guess if I can't find the definition on the internet it isn't.

But the point of me using the word unmanagement, you can't actually manage time. Do you feel the bolt of lightening? That is correct. You can not manage time! No matter what you do, there is no way to stop time, or slow it down or make it dance. Look at all the trouble that Adam Sandler got into when he tried to control time in the movie "Click".

Seriously though, we really can't control life, the seconds, minutes and hours tick by no matter what we are doing. What we can control, is how we use our time, we control our activities and our environments. There is not much sense in worrying about the things that we can't actually control.

If you are like me and 50% of the people in the world, we have WAY more stuff going on then we can find the time for. Now we have to choose what we spend our time doing.

These is where the tricky part comes... you need to know what your core values are, you know that ones that make you tick, help you make important decisions. Your values also allow you to prioritize how you are going to spend your time.

If your top core value is Family, well then you are going to make spending time with your family the most important priority. So when you are faced with the decision, "do I work late tonight or do I go to my daugther's soccer game?" You will decide to go to the soccer game.

Unmanaging Time is the easiest thing in the world as long as you know what your core values are.

Step 1) What are your core values?

Step 2) Put those values into action!

Step 3) Enjoy your life!

Now some of you may be saying, it is not that easy, you don't understand my life. Those my friend are excuses for not really understanding yourself and what would really make you happy. People are the most content with their lives when they are doing what they want to be doing, when they feel they are in control of their lives. Let me repeat that, people are happy when they are in control of their lives, not when they are letting time control them. We control our lives, by not sitting idly by and not control your actions. Now if we are really luck we are enjoying our lives and loves so much that we don't even notice time go by.

There are twenty-four hours in a day. At a first glance it seems a lot, but in our practical day-to-day experience we often feel that there is never enough time to do all the things that we want to do. How can we utilize our time in such a way that we can get the most out of those twenty-four hours? A successful businessman once said, "If you want to be successful in life you have to sacrifice either sleep or television or both." There is much wisdom in these words. To utilize time wisely the first thing we can do is to become conscious of where we are not using time wisely - in other words: where we feel we are wasting time. Television has brought many good things, but it is also true that it can usurp much of our precious time unnecessarily. We can use the time we save by watching less television by doing something constructive in our own lives or by doing something good for mankind.

It goes without saying that sleep is absolutely necessary and indispensable. But sometimes we tend to indulge ourselves in getting more sleep than we actually need - especially on the weekend. So if we really want to write that novel, master that difficult piece on the piano or work out that fabulous business plan, we may have to become more economic in our sleeping behaviour. Eight hours of sleep are recommended for sound health. Yet through the practice of meditation we can gradually reduce the amount of sleep we need. From eight hours it can become seven hours, six hours or even five or four hours, depending on our individual capacity. For meditation gives us inner peace, which can substitute an amount of outer sleep. It is said that a moment of real inner peace which one can experience in deep meditation can replace several hours of sleep.

Another thing which may help us in using time more effectively is to change activity once in a while. By changing activity we give ourselves a break. For our mind everything becomes boring and tedious after a while, so if we venture into a new activity the mind gets new enthusiasm and energy. That new joy and energy will also help us to work much more concentrated and effectively. Then when we get enough of that task we can again return to the previous task and we will again get new joy and enthusiasm. "Rest is change of activity," my spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy always says. If we know how to apply this little phrase of wisdom in our day-to-day lives, we will be taking a big step forwards towards the fulfilment of our dreams.

Do you know why you don't get all the stuff on your to-do list done? Sometimes it's as simple as a having a strategy for time-blocking.

The other day my friend LeLe called me up and said, 'Melanie, how the heck do you schedule out your time?' I'm finding that I get so behind with all the emails, phone calls and stuff that needs to get done. Well my first comment is always, 'Get an assistant.' My second question was, 'Are you scheduling time in your calendar for getting those items done?'

With the hundreds of entrepreneurs I've coached, the simple fact is in order to get something done, you have to create space to focus on it. Otherwise you will get pulled in 17,000 directions at once and never finish anything. Here are a few of my sure-fire scheduling tips to get more done:

1. Schedule action steps into your calendar. To really get things done on your to-do list, you must have a block of time in your calendar to focus on it. I have a weekly time slot called 'Action Folder' where I focus on project deliverables.

2. Set regular time for 'return phone calls.' One of my clients, a mortgage broker owner, was frustrated when a whole day would go by before he could get to the gold - phone calls. So he created 9 am to 10 am as 'phone call time.' Worked like a charm!

3. Block out weekly 'work on business' times. If you find that months go by before you have had a chance to work on marketing or planning, you need a block of time for it. I recommend Friday afternoons.

4. Leverage your time with 'open call' times. Once a month, members of the ULTIMATE Wealth & Success Circle have access to me on the last Tuesday of the month. This works great because everyone knows when to plan for it. Alex Mandossian has two days a week where he takes phone calls and he leaves the days and times on his voice mail.

5. Be ruthless with your 'project time.' My project day is Tuesday. That is the day I leave open to handle deliverables, approve copy, talk with my team, etc. I've coached my team to be ready on these days and that on other days I may take longer to get back to them.

6. Have regularly scheduled client days. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning are the days my assistant knows she can schedule client coaching meetings. What this does is allows me to focus my time on those days and not feel distracted by other priorities.

7. Have an appointment-free day where you plan nothing. On Mondays, I don't plan any meetings (if I can help it) so I can handle any urgent situations and clean up projects. I've learned I need space to think properly and it's a great way for me to make sure everything is covered.

A couple of side notes to really make this work:

** Think of the appointment as if it's a meeting with a client. You wouldn't miss that would you?

** If you need to reschedule your appointment with yourself, you must reschedule the date sometime that week. The problems start when you let yourself off the hook and just don't do it.

Now, put at least two of these time-tested techniques into action this week and watch yourself accomplish some amazing results.

Lately I find myself more and more conscious of the passing of time. It may be some kind of mid-life crisis, but there really and truly don't seem to be enough hours in the day. Or so it seems.

The fact is, there are the same number of hours in a day that there always were: 24 to be exact. There are 1440 minutes in a day, 86,400 seconds. As C.S. Lewis said, "The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is."

And so I find myself with time to spend like precious and oh so few pennies. I try to hoard it, but it slips through my fingers.

I find myself wondering - is time something you make, or something you find?

Every minute of our lives is made up of choices. We choose how to spend our seconds just as surely as we choose how to spend our pennies. The seconds we squander won't ever be regained. If we put work before family, our children may grow up behind our backs, and we will find ourselves examining photographs of little children that no longer exist. We turn our heads and our daughters are off to the prom; our sons taking the keys to the car. We are left holding the shovel to the sand box with no one nearby to play.

We may sacrifice the time we spend with our families for work. We may allow people to steal slivers of time with mindless chitchat, cell phone conversations, waiting too long in line. How much time do we really need to sleep? How much sleep do we dare sacrifice before we endanger our health? Are we wasting time on things that are unimportant, like television? Benjamin Franklin said, "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of."

Here's a phrase to ponder: killing time. Why would we want to kill time? Henry David Thoreau commented, "You cannot kill time without injuring eternity."

I've heard time stands for "This I Must Experience." I hear the clock ticking, and I know I am right where I'm supposed to be, even when I believe otherwise.

There are wounds that only time can heal, and then time becomes our friend, and not a curse. The passage of time can be comforting in times of pain.

It's all about priorities, I think, and doing the best we can to spend our minutes and seconds wisely. It's about forgiving ourselves for mistakes and planning what we will do with whatever seconds remain. The older I get, the more I cherish every single minute, especially the minutes and seconds I get to spend with my children.

I think Will Rogers said it best: "Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save."

What are we trying to save time for? That's what we should be doing with it. We are responsible for our choices.

The clock is ticking.

You can be a suburban Superman who does it all!

Be a husband and a father and always accomplish your goals, by focusing on what's important and what's in front of you at the time. It's the opposite of multi-tasking. It's compartmentalization.

Compartmentalization is best symbolized within the bow of the martial artist as he enters the dojo. The bow emphazises the ideal, that outside distractions are left at the door. It says, unequivocally, I am here to learn and give one hundred percent of myself in the process.

Don't do more things at once. Do one thing at a time and do it well.

Be a family man. Spend evenings at home with your family. Eat dinner together, talk about your day, play games, finish homework and prepare for bedtime. The bedtime rituals can be rewarding and perplexing at the same time, so here's where routine has it's rewards.

Be a son, be a brother or sister, be a survivor, be a writer, be a businessman, be a life-long learner and a teacher. You can be all of these things, all at once and one at a time. Concentrate on each one separately, as you are involved with related activities, and give 100 % of yourself in the process. You will be amazed at the overall results that will appear in every area of your life.

When you affect one area of your life in a positive manner, you will find every area of your life is positively affected.

Anyone can be Superman! Compartmentalize your life. Make time for what is important now, and be totally within that moment. Opportunities present themselves and then disappear like a vapor.

Avoid time-wasters like the television and newspaper. Sit in the floor and play with your child, get on your treadmill, throw yourself into your work while you are there, and when you leave, bow low, just as the martial artist, and leave it at the door. Enter the next door you come to and bow again.

"Until you value yourself.....you will not value your time; until you value your time.....you will not do anything with it." - M. Scott Peck, Author

Time management, as anyone who works with me would know is one of my big complaints, issues, concerns. It's also one of the most frequent things that people rate themselves lowest on in things like performance reviews.

Today I just wanted to provide you with some simple tips to improve your time management, efficiency and productivity.

1. Eliminate these words from your vocabulary: "I don't have time" This one's a tough one and although this is one of my aims I'll admit that sometimes they do slip out, but my aim is consistent - to eliminate them. The next time you go to say those dreaded words, just remember - you have exactly the same amount of time as everyone else, you have exactly the same time amount of time in your day as the Olympic Swimmer who gets up at 4am, you have the same time amount of time in your day as Presidents and World Leaders who run entire countries. Eliminate the words because what you're really trying to say is: "I don't want to make time to do that", and that's quite alright too! The next time you go to say I don't have time, imagine if that task you're saying you don't have time for was a family member at hospital - you'd have time to get there, so what you really need to decide is "Does this deserve my time".

2. It's an oldy but a goody - start each day by getting rid of your most despised task. Nothing ruins a day like dreading a task you have to do later in the day.

3. Set rewards for yourself if you can achieve all your tasks, find out what motivates you. For me - it might be that if I can get through these three hard tasks I can eat some of the doughnuts that one of my team brought into work today. Another great thing about that reward is that if I procrastinate - the doughnuts will be gone! Another great thing to do is to buddy up with someone and become accountability partners for getting your tasks done.

4. Unless you have the worlds best memory (I don't) Make Lists. When someone gives you a responsibility, write it down, whether you record it in your phone, your organiser, email yourself, write it on the back of a panadol packet - it doesn't matter how, write it down! Nothing's worse than the feeling of waking up in the middle of the night thinking - oh no, I forgot to do that.

5. I've never been a huge believer in labeling tasks A, B, C in order of their importance. I've tried this system and it doesn't work for me - of course that doesn't mean it won't work for you. What I try to do instead is what I call Little Things First. What this means is that when I get an email, if it's small or has a small task, I'll get rid of it quickly rather than continually come back to it over and over again. I have many recurring tasks in my diary and the small things on my list are gone by about 10.30am usually. Leaving me the bulk of my day to work on larger projects.

6. Set or get deadlines for your tasks. When setting yourself a task or getting one from someone else - always find out when it needs to be done by. Then diarise an appropriate amount of reminders before the due date.

7. Work / life balance seem to the be buzz words all over the world at present - but you really do need to put time and energy into this area. Schedule in time to relax, time with family, time reading, time with your partner - if it's in your diary and your commit to it, you're less likely to neglect it.

8. My desk at work is my haven. My trays work for me. Now I can't tell you what the best desk system is for you, all I know is that if yours doesn't make your day easier - change it, constantly change it until you get something that works. For me, I don't allow anyone to put anything on my desk. My assistant is allowed to put things in one tray and one tray only, everything else is put in my communal pigeon hole. I have a single out tray - this simple tray stops me from getting up 20 or 30 times a day as much of what comes in to me needs to go elsewhere in the office. I have a tray full of non urgent things to read, when I get time, I start going through it. I have a tray full of things I'm waiting on others for and I have an email folder full of these sorts of emails - my diary prompts me with a recurring reminder to check through these two areas. Whatever works for you, works for you, just take some time to find it!

9. Don't be afraid to ask for help. What's worse - asking for help once or doing the task incorrectly or incompletely 5 times, or even worse, hiding the work! It happens, don't be a victim of the "scared to ask" disease.

10. Your mind isn't a computer, use your computer to help your mind become like one. Each week on a Friday a little reminder comes up in Outlook telling me to send this email. Each week on a Wednesday I'm told I have two meetings first up. You're not a machine, use your technology to its best advantage.

Time can not be put away or recalled; it is ever passing and always in short supply. When it comes to time we rarely use it to its fullest potential. Most of us, Nevertheless, have a very bad estimate of where their day goes.

When it comes to remembering time our brain can most of the time lead to misleading results.

This doesn't need to be the case. Some people routinely conduct an in depth look at their day to make sure they are not wasting any. The process can be made mechanical to relieve the annoyance, and if it is done consistently - and the results acted up on - it will guide you to a noteworthy betterment in performance. Because you will be focusing more of your cherished day on the chores that count.

Instead of standing around trying to remember the actions of the day, you should journal the day as it happens. To get a good picture, the journal needs to be done over an extended - to polish any cyclic patterns. In the real world, of course, this would be impossible. However, you should aim to journal each day of the week. This can be spread out over several weeks to alleviate the load. For example: Week one you can journal Monday and Friday, week two Tuesday and Thursday, and week three Wednesday.

It is a must to journal the actions as they occur, and in enough specific detail that the day can be analyzed at a different time. Now that you have all of the results you need to examine the data, you need to do just that. There are two ways of breaking down your data.

First you could review the day and put the actions into different categories: selling, meetings, follow ups, Internet usage, report writing, telephone, referrals etc. You will be depressed at how much of your day is lost and not spent to your main job

Second ponder What would happen if this task was not done?" If the answer is not a single thing, then the course of action is clear. If not doing the exact action would have no good effect on your business, life, spirituality, relationship, job, what ever it is you are trying to manage your day for, then don't bother to do it. Nonetheless, most of the tasks will have some value, so you next need to debate: "Could someone else do this better?" With a little breaking downs, you can manage your day and accomplish your job much easier and much more expeditiously.

Good news: Americans are more productive than ever. Unfortunately, that also means that we're working longer hours. Worse, the time that we're not in the office is no longer protected the way that it once was. These days, odds are that you have a cell phone, blackberry, one or more email accounts, and a long list of people unashamed to contact you outside of what used to be called "normal business hours."

So how can you, the ambitious but overworked professional, find time to travel?

Start by eliminating one common misconception. Repeat after me: "A trip doesn't need to last a week or more in order to be worthwhile."

We all know this intuitively. If we didn't, we'd never go anywhere--the zoo, a football game, home for the holidays, or even one of those endless "business appointments" that keep coming up. But we've been conditioned to see travel time as an investment, one that needs to get a rate of return. Because of that conditioning, we avoid taking trips where we spend a long time traveling unless we can spend a long time at our destinations.

The biggest problem that this thinking creates is that it prevents busy people from traveling at all. Busy people are lucky to be able to count on their weekends. Maybe they can take a Friday or a Monday off, or an occasional four-day weekend, but a week? Not happening.

As a result, busy people stuck in the rate-of-return mentality just can't get away. But the premise is flawed from the start, and you can break free by changing your mindset. Here are a few tips to help:

* When you're busy working outside of the office, that means you have work that can be done while you're traveling. So, time spent on a plane from New York to London, or from San Diego to Alaska, isn't wasted at all; it's actually work time, uninterrupted productivity. When you arrive, you'll just finished working, so enjoy your time at your destination without worrying about what's waiting for you back home. If you do still have more work, there's a return trip tomorrow for you to get it done.
* Use time zones to your advantage. Schedule westbound flights early in the morning and a lot of your travel time is offset, allowing you to arrive shortly after you left. Leave late at night when you're heading east and sleep on the plane; you'll arrive early the next morning.
* Understand, really understand, that there is no relationship between time spent traveling and time spent at a destination. Either the destination was worth seeing or it wasn't. Enjoy your trip for what it is. You don't have to convince anyone else.

By treating your travel time as blocked-aside work hours, you do more than free up time for travel. You let go of a lot of the stress that builds up from spending all of your time at work. You recharge so you can approach the next challenge with more energy. You create a life outside of work, one focused on open spaces, exciting places, and new people. Make the decision today to see the world before you retire. You can do it without having to give up your career.

As a business professional, I sometimes go out on appointments and meetings everyday for weeks on end. I gain visibility and I also gain the next appointment. Eventually it much of it turns to business. Activity with follow-up is certainly a way to get business. The biggest problem associated with daily meetings and appointments is the ability to complete the work and action items that are a result of all the activity.

Carving up your week into manageable chunks that also allow you to complete the action items is very crucial. The week should not only entail appointments and meetings, it needs to contain time for the action items and time for you personally. This means eat properly and get exercise as well as spending time with the family.

It is true that you must spend the time to build business and it is also true that the hours necessary often cut into some of the things we want in life. However, if you manage your activities and organize your office properly, you can get a lot more done in a shorter period of time.

Eve Abbott, the author of "A Brain New Way to Work" has broken tasks down so that processing all the information needed is easier to handle. She suggests organizing the office into "departments" is a good way to start. Also, having items at your fingertips without having to leave your chair speeds up the process. There are many more tips but these two are the basics that need to be implemented.

As far as dividing up the week, plan a circuit for your appointments, and keep your appointments to one or two days a week and put as many as possible into those days. If you use the circuit approach your driving from one place to another is kept to a minimum and you have very little wasted time. Just make sure you leave enough time between appointments to get there on time.

Meetings can also be a cause of lost time. If possible you can arrange to meet potential clients at the meeting (either before or after). Put meetings into your schedule ahead of time, especially if they are on a regular basis. Then you can arrange appointments around that schedule.

Now for the action items. Save two days a week to stay in the office and complete your action items. If one of your items is making phone calls and dealing with email, then schedule in one hour at a time to do this. Phone calls and email can get in the way for anyone. Resisting answering the phone or working on emails outside your scheduled phone time is extremely difficult and unless it is imperative for a project, keep your calls scheduled in.

Schedule in your exercise, your family activities, and other things you enjoy doing. You will be surprised at how easy it is to do everything as long as you are organized and scheduled. You will find that you have extra time on your hands - do not waste it - enjoy it.

I made one last inspection of the now disheveled hotel room. My wife had taken her bags and our young son down to the car. Just as I was ready to head out of the door with my backpack, camera and extra-large suitcase on wheels, I was reacquainted with the 'free internet service' sign by the door. I thought that I would take this one last chance to download the e-mails that accumulated during the day while we were driving. I thought that I could take action on some of them before I 'really' began our vacation with the rest of my family the following day.

I connected with apparent ease and the e-mails started to stack my inbox. I opened up one that seemed to be important and replied. At first I was determined to send this message out before we started the second half of our road trip. However, I remembered an article in The Wall Street Journal about a Hotel Company Internet Director who surreptitiously planted his laptop, cell phone and Blackberry in a bicycle trailer carrying his 9-month old son so he could download e-mail while on vacation. I didn't want to be anything like this man! I was holding up our journey and our family time together, and besides, I was already on vacation. I just wasn't acknowledging it! By focusing on work-related tasks, I was not practicing what the Latin word for vacation implies, vacare, 'to be empty, to vacate or to be free.'

According to the American Management Association (AMA), many of the 645 business executives who participated in the survey will remain in contact with the office while away. "Nearly 62 percent of those surveyed will check in with their offices at least once a week and as many as a quarter of them (25%) will be in daily contact while on vacation." As I got back on the road, it took me a good hour to forget about the e-mails I had read. I know from my previous work experience that problems more serious than a few e-mails would require more time to 'empty' the mind. News from the office should never reach your ears or eyes while on vacation.

As we head into the holiday season between Thanksgiving and the New Year, taking one's gadgets and gizmos on vacation may seem perfectly normal, but it's actually a bad idea. Maybe you're worried about what you might miss back at the office, but by taking your 'connectedness' with you, you never really leave the office (and aren't able to free your mind). In an article in The Wall Street Journal , "Workaholic Henry Franceschini took his first vacation in four years last Easter, but the 48-year-old sales manager soon discovered that there wasn't much cellular service in Destin Beach, Florida, so he spent a lot of his time driving in search of a signal. Altogether, Mr. Franceschini probably spent as much as four hours each day working (and driving)."

While on a professional speaking assignment, I checked into my client's headquarters. Not only was my point-of-contact automatically telephoned, but he was sent an e-mail that caused his PDA (personal digital assistant) to vibrate too. His vibrating PDA had a very disruptive effect while I was working to improve his team's presentation skills. As one team member presented, other team members were instant messaging on their PDAs or receiving vibrating e-mails. They weren't being present for the task at hand. I decided to be more present by exploring the area around me instead of my e-mail. I headed towards the local organic market in Boulder, CO. A woman at the market told me about a charming yoga studio, I found a 100% oxygen bar that dispenses various types of aromatherapy (Oxygen relieves headaches in mile-high areas), and I ate the best Bouillabaisse of my life.

When we are constantly connected to the office, we aren't able to make a clear connection to our family, to those people we might encounter nor to ourselves. It takes time for the cares and worries of our routines to melt away. Isn't this the reason why we go on vacation in the first place, to recharge and to maintain or improve our relationships? The state of your mind partially shapes your experience. When you allow a location to reveal itself to you, you will have more authentic experiences and you will subsequently become more creative and balanced. By redirecting my connection, I had a unique personal experience in Boulder and will continue to enjoy a quality vacation with my family.

I've finally decided to stop saying, "I'm too busy." It's an excuse for something else. Our language is peppered with busyness anecdotes such as, "You must be too busy" or "She's a busy bee." Another famous excuse is, "I was too busy to: call you, write your recommendation letter, call the dentist for an appointment, or 'you can fill in the blank for the task du jour .'

I recently had a photographic assignment at an organization's annual awards ceremony. It took place at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the water. Through the big picture window, I saw docked sailboats swaying in the wind. As I took another creative photograph, I was encouraged to hear the chief executive officer state one of his company's core values to be "people are our most valuable asset." He went on to say that they want to continue to become the company that is a magnet for inspired professionals.

I was encouraged by this executive's commitment to the employee. After the corporate speeches and goal setting, grateful employees received their 5-year, 10-year and even 15-year plaques. This company had awards for 'team player' and for an 'unsung hero.' The introduction to the unsung hero started with, "he comes in early, he stays later than everyone else, he asks for more work, and when his manager wanted to make his workload lighter, this employee fought to keep his extra work." I was confused. The unsung hero award went to an employee who in many ways is becoming less of a valuable asset by working too many hours.

According to economists Barry Bluestone and Stephen Rose, middle income families now work four months more in 2003 than they did in 1979! It's easy to pinpoint this increase to the demands of the job and to many an employee trying to capture their company 'unsung hero' awards. But in order for people to actually be the most valuable asset, there needs to be honest communication about what is unacceptable behavior. A company who subtly rewards employees for 'the work above all else' mentality will experience reduced productivity and have employees leave due to stress and burnout. Would a racehorse owner overwork a prized Thoroughbred? Definitely not! It would jeopardize the owner's investment by causing an injury or lowered performance. Then why would a company encourage this 'overwork' ethic? It is counterproductive and a poor investment strategy.

In addition, Time Magazine stated that the cost of medical plans was up 11 percent in 2001 and 15 percent in 2002. Employees are being asked to pay a greater and greater share of their medical deductions while they are being asked to work more. I find it to be more than a coincidence that the cost of our health plans has increased alongside the increase in our working hours or busyness. It's no wonder that the more busy we are, the less time we have to work on the other areas of our life that not only keep us happy and healthy, but make us a more valuable asset to our companies.

While I had two assignments on this particular day, I made sure that I took the morning of the next day off. I refused to be 'too busy' and instead, went to the gymnasium and took the time to prepare a proper lunch. I finished the remainder of the day with a renewed sense of energy and an increase in my focus all the while being more balanced. If a company truly sees their employees as the most valuable asset or as an investment, then organizations need to give their 'unsung hero' awards to those employees who display more creativity and balance. Rewarding this behavior actually maintains the highest value of the individual and subsequently the organization. It leads to an increase in productivity and profits. It is time we work less to achieve more so that the balance in our lives will be a magnet to attract other unsung hero's.

Time is the very essence of life and the most precious commodity we have. Unlike other precious commodities we cannot store it or accumulate it. Each precious minute that we are allotted every day at sunrise must be spent before dawn the next day.

Our failure or success depends on how we spend those precious moments. Spending those moments wisely leads to a life well lived, and failure to do so leads to the pain of regret.

Here are 4 ways in which you can befriend Father Time:- 1. Set priorities and stick to them. List your top 5 -7 priorities in order of their importance. Spend some time each day working on those priorities before anything else.

2. To succeed you need to work on those things in the present that have the greatest impact on your future. Things like exercise, drawing up a business plan or writing an article, spending some quality time with your spouse or kids are all examples of activities that will yield rewards now and in the future as well.

Contrast that to watching TV or hanging out with your buddies at the bar. These activities only provide temporary pleasure with no return on the investment of time in the future.

3. Make a commitment to improve those aspects of your life that are the most important to you. If, for example, you are an internet marketer, then learn the skills of copy writing, list building, Search Engine Optimization etc. If you are a parent then read books or listen to audio programs that will teach you the skills you need in order to parent effectively.

Keep learning and improving in each and every area of your life. Constant and Never Ending Improvement should be your motto.

4. Keep in mind that time cannot be saved, it can only be relocated from activities of lower importance to activities of higher importance. Rather then think of spending time, think of investing time. Before you begin the day ask yourself this question:- "How can I invest the next 24 hours that lie ahead so that I can enjoy the moment and reap the rewards of a moment well invested in the future."

I run a number of Internet businesses and often used to find myself spending hours at the computer thinking that I'm working. I'd spend my time checking web stats, reading and posting to forums, checking and replying to emails, checking my AdSense, tweaking my AdWords adverts, etc, etc. At the end of the day I realised that I hadn't even looked at my 'to do' list.

Nowadays I take a completely different approach. Today for example I gave myself two hours to complete some specific tasks. Ok, so it actually took me a few minutes longer but after they were finished I stopped and spent the rest of the afternoon out walking, barely even thinking about work.

In those few hours I spent working I'd achieved more than I sometimes achieve in a full day. So how did I manage this? I certainly didn't work any faster or even any more intensely than usual.

The key here is that it's all about time management. Effective and disciplined time management is vital to the entrepreneur, especially if they work alone. Many entrepreneurs fall into this category and should consider time to be their most valuable resource, even more valuable than money itself.

To be successful at anything you really need to be on top of your time management:

* Start by creating a timetable stating what you'll do on each working day of the week.
* Buy yourself a timer, time every task and make sure you stick to your plan.
* Perform the important and creative tasks first, the ones that give the best return on time spent.
* Leave the tasks like checking emails, forums, etc until last. They really can wait.
* Consider switching off the phone if possible, at least while performing important tasks.
* Plan in some free time each day to relax a little, don't work straight through without a break.
* Continually evolve your time plan according to what works best for you.

If you do all of this your productivity will increase dramatically and you'll be able to turn those 12 hour non-productive days into 8 hour days where you achieve so much more.

Now here's a bold summarising statement: "Time management is more important to the entrepreneur than money itself. The reason being, money is almost unlimited and you can make as much as you like. However, unless you have some kind of time machine there'll always be 24 hours in any day, only half of which are usable for working, only a third of which should be used for working".

With our fast and furious lifestyle that many of us have gotten used to, things can start to slip away from us, unless we teach ourselves how to manage our time.

Like many people, your time management may consist of post-it reminders and to do lists that you stick on your refrigerator door, desktop, and anywhere and everywhere, as you scribble down quick notes. While you are managing your time as best as you know how, it still can be ineffective and inefficient.

The key for you to get that extra time to concentrate on achieving more of your ambitions and dreams, is learning to skillfully manage your hours, days, weeks, and even months of time. Every facet of your life will benefit because you won't forget important tasks that result in a better life.

How do you learn the skills of time management?

There are numerous way to become skilled at time management Even though, some people may want a programmed procedure and attend designated classes, while this can be effective, it may cost a lot of money.

Or, you might want to try to teach yourself and do some of these following ideas:

* Search the Internet - discover what has worked for others to manage their time
* Try out different things like buying a wall calendar, or if it suits you better, a desk calendar
* Get an organizer
* Set up regular email reminders

Whether you use one of any combination of task reminders, try out which works the best for you. Or, if you need to, try them all out.

Lend yourself credit!

Mastering a new skill can be challenging, doubly so when you berate yourself anytime you make a mistake. Even the most skilled time manager can make a mistake if their having an off day.

Realize that you are teaching yourself something new and try to see how you would encourage and coach a close friend during their many attempts to improve. Then, treat yourself the same way!

There is some work, but as you know, practice makes perfect, and anything worth having is worth working for!

There are countless people who want to achieve success but it seems as though their timing is not right. Is it a mystery or simply poor timing?

One of the most effective ways to gauge your timing for success is to address your level of preparation. There is no short cut to being prepared for success.

Case in point, some people simply show up. It is stated, "Eighty percent of success is attributed to showing up." Being on time for a unique opportunity can pay dividends.

When it comes to timing for achieving success it is important to understand nothing is a substitute for preparation. If you are a singer, by all means practice. If you are an actor, by all means practice your lines.

Luck is defined as opportunity and hard work. Timing plays a big role in how your success will define you.

I admire the timing of President Abraham Lincoln. He ran for the presidency and failed, ran again and failed. Licoln's last attempt resulted in him becoming President of the United States of America.

On can say America was not ready for Lincoln's leadership or the stars had to align properly before he was accepted to lead our country.

What about you? Are you willing to put in the time to secure your rightful place on the stage called success? Not only that, do you have the courage of conviction to place yourself in the sacred space called proper timing?

You will know the proper time for your success because you will not give up or give in to limited timing, rather unlimited opportunity to succeed.

Do you recognize this? You are in a hurry. You rush to arrive at time, but unfortunate the traffic is heavier than expected and no matter how you push things you are to miss an important meeting. So what happened?

It is very simple: you left home too late.

If you left home earlier you probably “could have seen this coming.” But often you are taken by surprise. Yet if you think of it, traffic jams never really come as a surprise.

So why did you leave home too late?

You did because it is safe there. We are happy at home in the same way as we are comfortable when doing the things we like. We like activities we are good at and we tend to postpone those activities we dislike even though we know that they must be done.

* You like meetings, but you hate to prepare them.
* You like to drive, but you hate to buy a navigation system.
* You like to get new clients, but you hate to promote your product.
* You like to receive new orders, but you hate to contact clients or maintain relationships.
* .. just think about your own list of things you like (which make you feel at home and those you hate – you have to leave home).

The rest is quite simple. We can not always stay at home. We wouldn’t meet new people, interesting relations, come up with new viewpoints. And also we have to leave home because some other duties require a response. Sometimes a simple driver’s license may expire; something that simple you can see coming weeks, month or even years before. And so you have to get out. You may hate waiting in the queue for some formality. Yet you ‘can’t’ drive without a license.

Time management is just like that; you’d better go out first and finish all those activities that you hate and go back home with a good feeling knowing that you are free to do what you like.

Any person who has lived more than one day in our country is well aware that our society is best described as a “hurry up and go” society. We jump out of bed in the morning, brush our teeth as we throw on some clothes, slap some peanut butter and jelly on two pieces of bread for our kids’ lunches, and run to the car with an overflowing coffee cup in one hand and a mascara brush in the other. We then arrive at work, start checking our meeting schedules and e-mail while we make phone calls to various service companies to find the most reasonable price for fixing our inoperable dishwasher. After a long day at work, we rush home, grab some food from the “golden arches” for the entire family, open the mail, pay the bills, check the kids’ teeth to make sure they’re clean, then jump in bed to start the cycle over again the following day.

The question I have to ask is this—does it have to be this way? While many of us feel this is the only way simply because it’s all we know, there are many, many societies of happy individuals that think we are robotically insane. One can only appreciate our robotic ways when looking at our society from the outside. Have you ever visited Western Europe? Specifically Italy? If so, you know exactly what I mean—so much so, you can already feel that sense of peace you had overlooking the Tuscan landscape while sipping chianti. The Italians have it all figured out and we would be remiss if we didn’t take meticulous notes. Why are they so different, you ask? First and foremost because their values are in the following order: family, food, fun, work (which is only included because it’s necessary for the latter two). Our values are quite the opposite. We spend all of our time and energy at work, such that we have absolutely none when we get home. This then leads us to have no fun, fast food, and little time for our families.

A day in the life of an Italian is polar opposite from that previously mentioned. They slowly crawl out of bed in the morning, relax for several minutes while they drink espresso and enjoy breakfast, then spend some time with family before leaving for work. They then drive to their place of employment, where they will spend only a few hours before they drive back home to enjoy a few hours of a multi-course, freshly prepared lunch. After returning to work for a few hours, they head back home mid to late afternoon for a peaceful nap. Dinner will be ready as its preparation began after washing the dishes used earlier at lunch. The evening is enjoyed by the entire family and sleep is of good quality due to the lack of stress experienced during the day.

Which day would you like to wake up to tomorrow?

You can narrow down my work, as a time management coach and professional organizer, to three defined areas:

Paper/information management. Time management. Decision management.

Sometimes clients I work with don’t know what to do. But they are at a loss about the specific system, process or task needed to improve their situation.

Sometimes the client knows what to do, but not how to do it. It seems that traditional methods just don’t work for this person.

And sometimes the client knows what to do and how to do it, but they decide not to do it. This, as you might imagine, is a challenge. For the client--and others impacted by the client’s decision.

Of course as a teacher and a coach I’m there to provide, information and support. But it’s clear to me that discipline of thought precedes discipline of action. My work in this area is directed at helping my clients reach inside themselves to change their situation and make a difference.

We make choices all day, every day. Sometimes the results aren’t exactly what we had hoped for. But to quote the title of a popular book…’hope is not a strategy’. Especially if the decision is based on a purely emotional reaction or an old recording of internal chatter.

Internal chatter sounds something like this:

‘I don’t feel like doing that right now…I’ll do it next week.’

‘I don’t need to get organized, I can wing it.’

‘I really don’t like all these rules and systems…they don’t apply to me anyway.’

This chatter, or thought, represents someone delaying decisions...and making the choice to continue that habit.

But many of us aren’t trained to hear out own thoughts. Or we might not know what they really sound like because they have become so much a part of us. Thoughts are the core issue. The root cause.

You can learn to recognize which thoughts are supporting you and which are sabotaging you in becoming more productive and less stressed. Then you can master decision (choice) management. You can turn dreams into reality. You can keep commitments to yourself. Remember what Yoda, the famous Star Wars character, said, “Do or not do. There is no try.’ That’s what decisions are all about.

So start listening. Start making choices to be successful. If you need help, give me a call.

The following information in this article should be exactly what you are expecting for and I hope it helps you.

Many people in this 21st century are so employed that they tend to forget this, forget that, that is why they want this tool to assist them achieve their target fast and efficiently.

When you are responsive in beginning your day go hands down, and you want to take in how you are using your time, a satisfactory time management resource book will help you.

Such materials will give you all of the strategies demanded to get your work finished while still allowing you to delight in your time, even during a occupied day. The information supplied to you is worth much more than the price of the material if you maintain even an extra hour left to yourself every day.

How to use this resource material

If you follow the guidelines of the book, you can own every aspect of your day accounted for. Anyway, some simple rules can be followed rid of the use of a soft-cover. A agreeable period work drive really help in the event you are new to the time management field.

You may even wish to get a soft-cover material for the family that are around you. If you are a business owner and would like to see a better performance from your employees, your employees might demand a copy of an agreeable resource. You could even contribute specific bonuses for any of your employees that reads the book for their personal development and sets up their own time management timetable.

An effective time management mechanism

Such personal development resources often talk about taking range of your ongoing daily schedule, in truth, the advice from most such books can be boiled down to the following principles:

* take stock of your record
* Point out the things that waste your time
* Prioritize your goals
* Set deadlines for yourself
* Meet your deadlines and complete your tasks

Why do you still need such a book?

Why do you still want a this type of personal development resource if all this guidance is up to date here?

Because such a book to fit you prepare the correct tools you want to reach each of these steps. Effective time management does not come from knowing what to do-it stems from knowing how to do it.

You may determine that all knowledge is not stored in books and that time management guides cannot coach you something that the real world can. You may be perfect nearby some aspects, but when it comes to managing your time it is not close by experience but secret what mill in the real world.

Highest of the people around us sometimes from poor time management - exactly the reason why so many such books are being written. By placing the lessons practised here and in a resource, you'll be miles ahead of the pack.

I want to thank you for visiting. Go up ahead and look around to discover other helpful tips and information.

Even though, you may now realise that true benefit of a time management material, all words no actions is simply does not make your goals come true.

Take action now is the most right thing to do if you want you goals realized.

Without an effective and proper time management system, there will not be much goal-oriented lifestyle to hope for.

Understanding the fact of a good time management program that are easy to follow and implement and now allowing you to side-track is really allowing you to enjoy your life once again. So, please don't wait any longer before giving another excuse to realize your goals again.

So you are running out of time or your people are having issues getting projects completed on time. Time management training may be a viable solution. Before you run out and sign up for that time management seminar or workshop, you should seriously consider the factors of money, time and results.

* Money - Time management training ranges from less than $100 for in-house services to over $1,500 for a 2 day off-site workshop. For example, if each individual in your organizations wastes 12 minutes each workday, this totals 52 hours per year. Depending upon the employee’s salary, your yearly waste in salaries only many range from $500 (based on $20,000 basic salary no fringe benefits) to $1,500 (based on $60,000 basic salary no fringe benefits).

* Time - Is the scheduled time enough to improve the current time management issues? Since human beings are creatures of habit, will a 4-hour to a 2-day – 12 hour training session change the habits of your employees or every yourself? Then training time needs to be scheduled to provide opportunities for ongoing performance or practice to ensure that new effective time management habits have been actively embraced.

* Results - What are the specific and measurable results that you expect from the training? When the results are clearly delineated first, then determining the return on investment for the training is much easier achieved.

When all 3 factors are considered, you as the decision-maker can make a better and more effective time management decision. And do not forget, time management is truly an oxymoron since a constant that being time cannot be managed. Any effective time management training is all about becoming a better manager of you.

In the 21st century people are constantly busy with their daily activities and repeatedly neglect the importance of having a good time management tip and tool. Due to the overloaded of information since the internet are being introduced more than a decade ago.

However, when you are using any type of time management technique, it is bound to earn you some free time. This time will show up when projects are finished more fast. Many think this is the time to sit and relax.

That is the wrong attitude. The reason you have listen to all those free tips is so that you can free up more time for yourself to get more things done (and thus achieve your goals).

Sitting and relaxing usually do not count as 'goals'. Use the free time you get to either take care of smaller projects that you usually don't give much time to or to get started on your personal projects. There is a lot you can do with the spare time you have in the business.

Why you need to use time management very wisely?

Realize that when you apply these free tips on your work habits it is so that you can get more work done through your day. Not only does it reflect better on your work performance but it also gives you a positive emotional feedback that you can use to motivate you to work even smarter.

Do not complain too much

Do not put off while tomorrow what can be finished today. Actually, that is perhaps the simplest and most effectively want free time management tip quickly and fast, so that you will ever read. If you have time, then get things done now.

An alternative time management tip

Another free tip is to use the little chunks of extra time we have available throughout the day to help us finish off our tasks for the day. Remember, the past you can knock off your work for today, the more time you will have to yourself for your personal projects and satisfaction.

If you are putting in extra time in your plans / or if you end tasks quicker than expected, use the time to finish up another one of your tasks. For illustration, when you go to the doctor's office, you virtually always have to wait. That is a good time to work on some of those projects.

This is one tip that everyone seems to agree upon but no one follows - please do not make that mistake.

All you have to do is to work hard and play hard

The whole point to time management is to enable you to get more work done during the time you set aside for work. Getting more things done then allows you to enjoy your free time that much more. Once again, while you cannot change the amount of time in a day, you can change how you utilize your time during the day.

Another important free tip that people forget is that you should also take care to schedule personal goals into your work time. This way, you will not just be getting more work over but actually using your time to achieve your life goals.

I desire to thank you for visiting. Go up before and look around to discover other helpful tips and information.

Even though, you may now realise that why most people want a free time management tip quickly and fast, but all words no actions is simply does not make your goals come true.

Take action now is the most right thing to do if you want you goals realized. Without an effective and proper time management system, there will not be much goal-oriented lifestyle to hope for.

Understanding the fact of a free time management tip that are easy to follow and implement and now allowing you to side-track is really allowing you to enjoy your life once again. So, please do not wait any longer before giving another excuse to realize your goals again.