Don’t allow yourself to come to the end of the day wondering what you did all day with no sense of accomplishment. Take charge of your time. Here’s one way: either the night before or soon after getting up, review what you need and want to get done. What is most important to you? Most urgent? Most satisfying? It sounds obvious, but establish your priorities and start with those items, building your schedule around them. Include appointments, chores, and even meals.
And here’s a key: give yourself a reward or some downtime – a half hour to sip coffee and read the paper or to take a walk, time set aside to call an old friend and reconnect, a workout. Set realistic time estimates for everything, and don’t over-stuff your time. Then stick to it, and don’t get sucked into the peripheral stuff. Yes, you will get interrupted, and your time estimates may be off, but don’t let that derail you. Cross things off as you finish them, and then review it at the end of the day to see how you did. Does it sound too rigid or constraining? Try it and you my find that it is actually liberating – by making time for the things that matter, you will likely find a change in your productivity and in your perception of time.
