Everyone makes resolutions in the beginning of the year.  Among the resolutions to lose weight, spend less and save more, many people make a promise that they will be more organized and try to master the time challenge.  The requests for time management training is always highest at the beginning of the year.

Although time is a finite measurement, it is also relative.  For example have you ever noticed that when you are on vacation, it seems to take forever to get to your destination and no time at all to return to your home?  In addition, when you’re at work and it’s busy and you have a lot to do, time goes fast.  But when you don’t have anything to do, time drags by.  I mention these examples to demonstrate that how we view time is often just as mental as physical. So, how does one deal with the mental aspects of mastering the time challenge? 

First, try taking a good hard look at how you use time.  Are you a procrastinator?  Perhaps you a person who has to finish everything on your to-do list before you go to sleep.  Or, maybe you are like me and try to schedule more things into a day than are possible to accomplish.  No matter what your tendencies are, it helps to have a process to deal with you to-do list on a daily basis.

Each day, either at the beginning or end of the day, perform a memory dump.  Dump your mind of all those pesky to-do items.  Write down all those things that keep you up at night saying, “Oh, I can’t forget to…”  Once written down, analyze the list and assign each item to a category.  Items like:  pick up dry cleaning, groceries, vacuum living room, bring out trash-go into the Household category.  Things like:  make doctor’s appointment; get nails done, shop for a dinner party dress-go in the Personal category.  Anything that has to do with work goes in the Work category.  You can even have subcategories for your various roles at work, for each of your family members, and your church or non-profit work you do.
Then, once you’ve got your list done and categorized, it’s up to you to prioritize the items.  What things do you have to get done this day?  Those are your “A” items.  I don’t bother with “B or C” items.  I reason that if I have time to do other things, I will.  But usually, new things pop up each day that must get done, so I spend my time dealing with these items. 
Another important part of mastering the time challenge is scheduling time during the day to do the most important items on your list.  Depending on the day, these could be items from the same category or items from different categories.  Feel free to add items to each category as they arise and carry them over to the next day.  It’s important to realize that this is a rolling list and you are not expected to finish all items each day.
The last and probably most critical part of this process is JUST DO IT.  If at all possible, stick with your plan.  Once you get in the habit of doing this each day, you’ll find that you will master the time challenge.