Do you ever get frustrated or stressed out because you can't seem to get things done--at least, not ALL the things that you wanted to?"? Do you have too many responsibilities?"? Too many demands?"? Do you run late because you try to squeeze too much into too little time?"? Are you always in a hurry?"? Do you often feel behind in your work?"? Are you too busy to do some of the things that you want to do and need to do--such as exercise, read, spend more time with family and friends, or do benevolent work?"?

"?Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be able to juggle all of the demands of the various areas of life and make it seem easy?"? Have you looked at these people who seem to be able to do it all and wondered, "How do they do it'"? Is it because they have more time?"? Or, is it because they are better managers of time?

"?We all have the same amount of time in a day--24 hours."? It's not the amount of time that we have that counts, it's what we do within that amount of time counts--how we spend our time--how we manage to get what we want."?

"?Time is a perishable resource."? We all spend time."? Once the day ends, it is gone forever---we can never get it back."? Some people manage to accomplish more than others within their 24-hour days."? Are they better managers of time? The answer to that question is, "No!"? They do NOT manage time, because time cannot be managed!"? We cannot manage time, we can only manage ourselves."? To achieve more, we must learn to manage the way we use/spend our time."? Rather than managing time, we need to concentrate on spending time wisely."? Spending time wisely means using the time we have in the most effective ways to accomplish our desired results.

So, do you know how you really spend your time? "?How much time is spent on non-productive activities?"? To better manage self and spend time more effectively, it is imperative that we find out how we are spending our time.' Memory is a very poor guide when it comes to remembering time spent unproductively.

"?Step 1:"? Become a Time Detective!

When detectives are hot on the trail of information, they take a lot of notes."? They write down everything."? Likewise, as a time detective in pursuit of information on how your time is spent, you will write down everything you do and when you did it."? In other words, you will keep an Activity Log for at least one day, preferably several days, recording everything you do."? Every time you change activities, write it down noting the time of the change."? This includes everything -- opening the mail, tearing up junk mail, working (specific tasks), making coffee, eating, playing, talking on the phone, shopping, gossiping with colleagues, sleeping, etc."? Be as specific as possible."? Use basic who, what, when,"? and where questions to fill in information."? For example, "Who did I spend time with?"? Where was I?"? What was I doing, specifically? (Example:"? Reading--What book did I read? When, and for how long?)

"?Step 2:"? Do an Activity Audit:

After you have recorded your time for a few days, analyze the log to see how you actually spend your time."""" Break it down into categories regarding various activities."? You may be shocked to see how much time you are actually wasting or spending unwisely."? You may also notice that you seem to be more productive in some parts of the day and less productive at other times of the day."? This may have to do with your own personal daily rhythms of energy and alertness."? Some people refer to themselves as "a morning person" or "a night person" 'to a degree this is the same thing."? Keeping the log and doing the audit, actually helps you identify and determine your fluctuations, as well as, routine distractions."?

"?It has been said that "awareness is curative"."? Certainly the Time Activity Log and the Activity Audit go a long way towards making us aware of our time spending patterns and habits."? It will then be up to us to "cure" the problems associated with managing our time."? If we recognize and eliminate activities that waste time or that are low-yield jobs, we can become master managers of spending time profitably!