Do you often wonder where your day has gone? Does your "To Do" list frequently have as many or MORE items on it at the end of the day than it did at the start? Do you feel overwhelmed and stress is becoming a familiar companion? If this sounds like you recently, putting some time management techniques to use should help alleviate the load.

Where to begin? First, start by examining all of the components of your life and determine how important it is to you that each task or project be completed. This question alone can be very empowering and definitely very enlightening. What would be the impact if the task were not done at all? Is the task something that really needs to be done, or is it something that you feel should be done? Shoulds are a big No-No; they just get in the way of important things. If you decide that it is not very important that you get it done, I guarantee that you have uncovered a personal "Ah-Ha" and probably stumbled over a main road block. If it's something that you can let go of, by all means do that. If per chance you feel that you can't just eliminate the "should task" from your list all together, what if you set it aside to check in on at a later date? Shelving it for a while may be just what you need to take the step to eliminate it totally.

Next, determine how inspired you are to do the tasks on your list that remain. Let's face it, there are many things in life that are necessary and important but don't even end up as a tiny 'bleep' on our Richter scale for inspiring. My bathroom comes to mind. It being clean is both necessary and important, but am I ever "inspired" to do so? Come on! So for all of the things that fall into the uninspiring category because you don't want to do it, it doesn't satisfy your spirit, it's too time-consuming, etc., determine how it can still get done without compromising YOU. Yes, I'm talking about delegating! I love that word. When you delegate a task you teach someone else how to do it to your satisfaction, are willing to hand it off to them wholeheartedly, check-in with them to see how things are/have progressed, and finally assess the entire process. In short, hand it off and do not micromanage. Micromanagement just makes double the work and double the anxiety. Learning to time manage is about creating more time and reducing anxiety. Lastly, really look at your list. What if, by examining all of the things that you are trying to manage, you uncovered one thing that could make many things fall into place? Let me elaborate. I know that home organization is a nemesis for many.

What if, by taking the time to organize a house, I told you that it could truly simplify many of the typical household/personal management tasks? Okay, I can hear the comments of disbelief, so let me show you how this works. Deciding to eliminate the clutter from her garage, Pam took an entire Saturday to complete her task. Once she was finished outside, she looked around and realized that she had enough room to store some of the things that were taking up too much room inside. So she continued to work on the entire house over a period of two weeks, a little each evening after work. She had a dining room, living room, kitchen, family room, office, and three bedrooms. Working steadily, she organized the house, eliminated as much clutter as she could, and threw out or gave away the things that she knew she would never use. When she was done, she felt wonderful and coming home was a pleasure.

However, she discovered some incredible side benefits of her "house overhaul." She spent less time doing just about everything at home because everything was where she expected it to be. She knew where her phone book was when she went to address her birthday cards. Her spices and pantry were so organized that she was able to quickly make a grocery list when it was time to replenish items. Her bedroom dressers and closet were so neat that she spent less time getting dressed because she no longer had to iron each piece of clothing before she could wear them.

This is just one example of how organizing just one item on your time management task list could literally free up hundreds of valuable minutes each day. When was the last time you looked carefully at the list of things that are on your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual to-do list? Are you creating or allowing more stress than necessary in your schedule? I challenge you to look at your list for this week and eliminate all of the "shoulds." I can't wait to hear the sighs of relief that I know are forthcoming by week's end. Once you get a taste of freedom, I can assure you that you will begin to carefully monitor the things that will require you to spend your precious time. You only have 86,400 seconds per day; use them wisely.