Are you struggling to find the time to do the things you need to do?

Are you struggling to find the time to do the things you need to do to reach the goals and objectives you have?

A day does not go by without someone asking about their schedule of activities and how they can balance their business with their personal life.

The answer to this challenge is not easy but it is simple. You need to follow a well thought out plan.

1. Commit to yearly goals for personal development and professional accomplishment. Translate yearly goals into quarterly goals and then into "actions steps" that become part of your "to do" lists that are revised daily.

2. Create a comprehensive calendar planning system and follow it.

3. Create a time analysis chart of all of your activities. Break your time into 15 minute blocks. Note your chief activity for each block. Do this for one week. Study the results. Decide how to better manage your time.

4. Stop wasting the first hour of your workday. Having that extra cup of coffee, surfing the Internet and socializing are the three costliest opening exercises that lower productivity.

5. Get enough rest, nutrients and exercise. If you don't feel good, you can't do good. (Try to exercise at least 3 days each week.)

6. Recognize your peak energy or prime time occurs during the day and allocate your most difficult tasks to that period. Work on easy projects at low energy times.

7. When you recognize your energy level is dropping, take a break. (This is when I like to go take the dog for a walk!)

8. Do one thing, well at a time. It takes time to start and stop work on each activity. Stay with a task until it is completed.

9. Don't open unimportant email or snail mail. At least 25 percent of the mail you receive can be deleted or thrown away without taking the time to open it.

10. Handle each piece of paper only once-and never more than twice. Don't set aside anything without taking some action.

A great plan, but it can't help you if you don't follow it. Try it for one week and see what happens.

Thought for today: Never see failure as final but rather the opportunity to develop your sense of humor!

Have a productive day and a fantastic weekend.

BF