Treasure time? Use it wisely

We are all created equal in that all of us are blessed with 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour and 60 seconds a minute.We all have the same time in a given day.

From Bill Gates to Gandhi, from Benjamin Franklin to Mother Teresa to Albert Einstein, right down to you 24 hours in a day! If you're tired of the costs of missed appointments, unfinished tasks and projects, procrastination and wasted days, then you can employ these simple solutions to overcome your time management challenges.

Value your time.

You can't address what you don't recognize.

Until you can see time as a valuable commodity, you will continue to waste it.

Once you see the value inherent in time you will no more throw it away than you would a hundred-dollar bill.

Invest some time in time and write out why you should value yours.

Then develop a plan for how to spend your most valuable commodity today and for the rest of your life.

Consolidate all calendars and appointments books.

Place all floating pieces of paperwork, all information, in one calendar organizer.

Avoid using several calendars for appointments and deadlines.

Make your life easier by consolidating this important information into one easyto- reference organizer.

You can buy an organizer at your local office supply company or visit www.franklincovey.com to review what they have to offer.Whether paper or electronic, if you use it right, you need only one organizer.

Substituting one for the many also makes it much easier to carry your organization tool with you.

Account for your current time using a time log.

How, where, and on what do you spend your time? The best way to get a grasp on your time is to log your time showing how it is used.What is it that you do during your day, week or month? Logging your time allows you to clearly understand where you are spending your time, how you can eliminate time wasters and how you can realign your time with your goals.

Create and use checklists.

This habit alone will save you numerous hours.

Whether you're going camping, hosting a special event, flying a plane, preparing for a race, packing for vacation or getting ready for a sales presentation, a checklist will help you stay organized and on track to achieve what you want.

A checklist allows you to make mistakes on paper as you plan rather than on the tasks you hold dear.

Mix up your work to break monotony.

Avoid brain drain by mixing up your tasks and projects throughout your day.

Change activities about every three hours to maintain interest and to keep an optimum energy level.

Changing tasks and then returning back to them provides you with a new, more empowering perspective that will help take you to the next level.

Learn to say "no." Learning to say no can be one of the most difficult habits to acquire.

One of the main reasons people never achieve their goals is because they are too busy helping other people achieve theirs.

Helping others is what life is about, but not at the expense of sacrificing what is important to you.

Again, it's about balance.

Say no to anything that does not fulfill you, advance you toward your goals or make you happy.

Don't bother with excuses or apologies.

A simple "no, but thank you for asking," will suffice.

Use your lunch time effectively.

List all the things you could be doing with your lunch hour.

Think in terms of your goals and recreational activities.

Challenge yourself to do at least one of these items each week.

Keep in mind that one hour per week equates to 52 hours a year.

You'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Confirm your appointments.

One of the easiest ways to minimize confusion and wasting time is to confirm your appointments on the prior day.

This ensures that you and the person with whom you are meeting have the correct time and place and are both still available.

This habit also gives you a gentle reminder to be prepared so that you can make the most of appointments.

Stick to your schedule.

Either you own your time or the rest of the world will grab it from you.When you put an appointment in your schedule you are planning in advance what you want to accomplish.

In a sense you are taking ownership of that block of time.

To retain ownership you must be diligent about sticking to your schedule.

This clarifies to the world and your own consciousness that your time is valuable and you are the rightful owner of that asset.

Set and meet deadlines.

Completion dates can be very motivating.

If you delegate a project make sure you deliver it with a deadline.

Likewise, if someone asks you to do something, it's a good idea to ask the deadline.

Deadlines seem to provide you with focused concentration and the momentum to get a job done.

Do your best to meet all you set.

Invest a little time in practicing these habits and then watch as a world of opportunity opens up before you.

You will find that your work, your relationships and your sanity are all improved just by incorporating a few small changes into your thoughts and actions.

Best of success to you! Jeffrey Benjamin is the founder of Breakthrough Training and co-author of the Real Life Habits for Success book series.

Visit www.breakthroughtraining.com to learn more.