The time of your life

Every magnificent sage, accomplished executive, loving parent, famous philosopher or sane person won't argue that time is what allows you to experience life, good or bad.

Your life is determined by how you spend your time. Yes, right now! In this moment, through thought and action, you shape every aspect of your life. Here are 21 ways to help you spend your time more wisely:

1. 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 fist-full of diamonds.

2. Use your desk as a work area, not a storage shed. A cluttered desk creates a cluttered mind. Keep it clean and neat. Don't waste time rummaging through the fallout of a cluttered life just to find a stapler.

3. Do the right thing. The cool thing about this is that you don't have to spend any time on re-spinning or rehearsing anything to the contrary. This alone can prevent you from having to spend an hour of time to numerous years.

4. Have your phone be a service not an intrusion. The telephone can be an incredible time saver or a terrible time waster (sometimes both in the same day). To enable your phone to best serve you, set up a system of rules relating to your priorities.

5. Complete what you start. Time is a limited resource. It is best to measure the value of completing a project you have started versus that same energy being used toward a new opportunity.

6. Use your transition time. Think of all the activities you can accomplish in five to 10 minutes. Use this list during the day to make use of the small pockets of waiting time or transition time. Also, list all of the things you can do while traveling in a car or on an airplane.

7. Utilize other people's time. When you are faced with multiple uses of your time, look at which add money or fulfillment to your life and do those. Whenever possible, farm out the rest. Most professionals use this tip to increase personal productivity, but it also works to add balance and enjoyment to your limited lifespan.

8. Keep a garbage can near your work area and use it often. Don't let procrastination bury you under a mound of paper. Take action on every piece that enters your space. Deal with it, put it in an "in" basket, file it or throw it away (recycle)!

9. Systemize routine tasks. One of the biggest time wasters is stepping over the same territory time after time after time. Track your steps throughout a day and see how many tasks cause you to spend time traveling to and from a destination, then look for ways to improve the efficiency of such travels.

10. Meet for coffee versus lunch. A business lunch often takes one and a half to two hours of time. A great option to the standard business lunch is to meet over coffee.

11. Know the majors from the minors. Since you are the only one living your life you are the only one with the power to choose how you spend your time. Make sure you are investing that time on your major priorities.

12. Consolidate all calendars and appointment books. Avoid using several calendars for appointments and deadlines. Make your life easier by consolidating this important information into one easy to reference organizer.

13. Account for your current time using a time log. Logging your time allows you to clearly understand how, where and on what you are spending your time. How you can eliminate time wasters and how you can realign your time with your goals.

14. Create and use checklists. 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.

15. 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.

16. Learn to say "no." 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.

17. Use your lunch break effectively. List all the things you could be doing with your lunch hour. Think in terms of your goals and recreational activities.

18. Confirm your appointments. One of the easiest ways to minimize confusion and wasting time is to confirm your appointments prior to the meeting. This ensures that you and the person with whom you are meeting have the correct time and place and are both still available.

19. Set and meet deadlines. Deadlines seem to provide you with focused concentration and the momentum to get a job done. If you delegate items and tasks to other people, give them a deadline too.

20. Kick back and relax. You will accomplish more and gain more accuracy in everything you do by maintaining a relaxed demeanor. Your decision-making will become more enhanced and you won't get flustered as easily. Write poetry, listen to soothing music, do yoga, meditate, tai chi, paint or sculpt, get a massage, sit in a hot tub whatever healthy activity it takes for you to maintain a relaxed state.

21. Hit the delete button. There is a list of endless things you want to do. We might not have enough time to achieve all the things we want, but there is more than enough time to achieve the things that are most important to us. Get your priorities straight! Focus your time and energy on what is most important to you.

Best of success to you!

Jeffrey Benjamin is the co-author of Real Life Habits for Success‚ and the founder of Breakthrough Training. He hosts Breakthrough Radio every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. on 99.1 FM Talk. Contact him through www.breakthroughtraining.com.