Time Management Tips to Help You Keep Up

Most of the time, when I'm running behind, it's not because there isn't enough time to get done what I want to do, it's because I am guilty of misusing my time. I'm chatting with a friend, I'm watching fabulous reality TV, I'm window shopping online; I'm not working when I could be. To make up for this past week, I have already decided that Saturday will be a work-day, even though the weather is supposed to be nice. I am hoping to get everything done before the sunshine fades.

How do I plan on getting everything accomplished in record time?

1. I'm not going to wash my hair when I shower. Most hair doesn't need to be washed every day and, as much as I love the smell of my shampoo, it'll last longer and the natural oils in my hair will nourish it just fine.

2. I bought two prepared soups from Trader Joe's (I was desperate for groceries!) so that I don't have to "make" lunch, I can just heat it up and eat. Another food-preparation tip? Use a crockpot. You can make essentially everything in a crockpot. I adore A Crock Cook's recipes.

3. I already started my to-do list. It's a list of everything that hasn't been done yet. I'm going to start at the top and work my way down, not skipping even the stuff I really don't want to do. I have a specific notepad that I use to keep my work-related to-do lists on and I hide it once everything has been crossed off. It hasn't left my desk all week.

4. I'm going to turn my cellphone off. I am a texting fiend and it's highly distracting to be having a conversation while I'm also trying to work. On this same note, I'll leave Adium (my chat program) turned off and keep myself away from Twitter, too. (Oh! The travesty! What will @SavingsSarah do?)

5. My feed-reader will go unnoticed until my workload is done. I use an RSS-feeder (Google Reader) to read the couple hundred blogs I like and as a motivator, I am going to let it pile up until I am totally done. My "funny" category will have 200+ entries in it by the time I make it back, but with my work done, I'll have the chance to sit back and truly laugh at my favorite LOL Cats without guilt.

source: savings