“Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life” Author: Alan Lakein

In his book, “The Power of Being Different”, John Carinci discusses the precious gift of time and the truth that our awareness of time varies depending on our stage of life. He accordingly points out that as we get older, time seems to move faster.  Can you relate? I know I can.  Unfortunately, I wasted a lot of this precious time before I discovered there were some very simple techniques I could use to better manage my time. The techniques I “discovered”?  Nothing earth shattering mind you! These were techniques that I had heard before, read about before, even made notes about and then one day… like the old Nike commercial says “Just Do It” – I just did it! I began writing things down. I wrote a simple “To Do” list. Just the act of putting pen to paper and writing a simple “to do” list will begin to give you amazing control of your time. Try it! For two weeks take a few minutes the night before and plan your day with a simple manageable, not more than 4 items to start, “to do” list and track your results.  Then, as you complete the tasks on your list cross them off; the crossing off step is important because it gives you a sense of accomplishment and a record of your results.  Keep your lists and after two weeks look at the results and you decide. Did you accomplish more with the list than without it and did this simple technique allow you to better take control of your time?   I have found that with a little planning the night before, and manageable to do lists, you can really get a handle on your available time. Once you get in to the habit of “To Do” lists you can move up to the next step of goal setting and really begin to take control of your time.  Click Here for my post on setting Goals.

How do you take control of your available time? Let me know below.