Managing

Your Time with Ease – An Introduction .................................................................... 3

Set Aside Time to Make a Plan ......................................................................................................... 5
Using Weekly Planning Sessions for the Week Ahead ............................................................. 8
Using To-Do Lists the Right Way ..................................................................................................... 9
Calendar Tips ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Setting Goals & Deadlines ............................................................................................................... 12
Make Your Goals Extremely Specific ...................................................................................................... 12
Schedule Some Down Time Every Day ....................................................................................... 14
Leave Physical Space for What Matters to You ........................................................................ 15
Reflect on What Has Happened in the Past, and What You Need to Happen in the
Future .................................................................................................................................................... 16
Exercise ................................................................................................................................................. 17
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 18

 Managing Your Time with Ease – An Introduction

There are only so many hours in a day. Once you factor in sleep, your work
commute and "me time", you might feel stressed out. You have so much to
do and you never seem to have the time. To top it off, you probably know
someone that seems to have time to spare. He is always calm, cool and
collected. He looks like he has never encountered stress in his life. What is
he doing that you aren't? What does he know that you don’t?

More importantly, can you do the same thing and become that
person that seems to squeeze 30 or 40 hours out of each day...
without stress?

The short answer is yes.

You can learn to use your time more productively. What happens with most
people who can't seem to manage their time efficiently is that they are
trying to do too much. They have too much on their plates. There are
activities and responsibilities crowding their to-do lists that they should
delegate.
You can't do everything. Try listing all your responsibilities at work, at home
and at play and then give each of those activities a timeframe. You will see
that you have only 168 hours in each week but you expect yourself to
accomplish more than 200 hours’ worth of stuff. That doesn't even take into
account how much you sleep.

Aside from spending time working on things that are better left for others,
your time management may suffer because of certain lifestyle choices. We
just talked about how much you sleep. If you are not resting regularly and
don't move through all the sleep cycles, you can be tired and mentally foggy
when you wake up. Physical clutter can get in the way of an efficient use of
time as well.

There are countless reasons why you may not feel like there are
enough hours in the day, and you can't remember the last time you
felt peaceful and tranquil rather than stressed out and anxious.

If this sounds like an all-too-familiar picture, you are in luck.

This report was written for people just like you, folks who want to get more
done with the time they have, without constant stress and anxiety. The
following productivity tips and best practices will help you trade your stress
for peacefulness, and your “not enough time” reality for plenty of time to
spare.
 Set Aside Time to Make a Plan

Productivity and time management gurus will tell you that if you don't make
a plan, you are planning to fail. That bit of advice has been credited to many
famous people, and it doesn't really matter who said it. That is a great piece
of advice for enhancing productivity and getting more things done.

By the way, you want your plan written down.

Research shows that when you write something down and read it back to
yourself, you improve your likelihood of accomplishing it. This doesn't mean
you shouldn't also have your plan dedicated to some type of app or
electronic day planner. The top time management apps allow you to access
your schedule from multiple devices, and when you update them they are
automatically synced everywhere.

While we are talking about electronic tools for improving your productivity
and time management without creating more stress in your life, let's look at
a few.
 ● Rescue Time

This is a really neat application. It sends you alerts to let you know what
things in your life are robbing you of your time. You get weekly reports that
you can use to plan your life in a more time-efficient manner. You might be
surprised to discover just what you are doing that is frittering away your
valuable time (and causing you stress).

● MyLifeOrganized

MLO is a task management system. It helps you create and manage to-do
lists and organize your goals. What's really cool is that it lets you know what
tasks require your immediate attention, which automatically helps you plan
and manage your time more efficiently.

● Remember the Milk

This intelligent piece of software helps you manage just about everything
you have to do. It helps you manage your tasks and to-do lists and syncs
with Gmail, Outlook and other popular time management tools.

● Pocket

This is an absolute must-have if you spend any amount of time online. It is

so easy to become distracted on the World Wide Web. When you are surfing
the Internet, one click leads to another ... and another, and another. Before
you know it you have fifteen windows open and you have wasted away an
entire hour. The Pocket app keeps you focused on what's important, and
minimizes online distractions.

● Physical Planner

We mentioned above that you should be writing out your plan. You definitely
should.

This means that you need to purchase a physical day planner. Type the
phrase "day planner" into Amazon or Google and you will have more than
enough to choose from. You don't want to use a simple lined notebook for a
few reasons. Day planners have been specifically designed to help you plan
more efficiently. They are already broken down into days, weeks, months
and years, and they are perfect for helping you take some of the stress out
of your life by managing your time more efficiently.

Now that you have your day planner, set aside a few hours where you will
do nothing but think about your upcoming responsibilities and life goals. This
should be time that you dedicate to this activity only. Find a quiet space with
no electronic distractions and think about your daily, weekly and monthly
responsibilities.

Don't forget to plan for vacations and long-term goals. Think about where
you want to be in a year and in five years. Break your plan of action down
into personal, family, social and business subsections. Don't worry about
getting this perfect. At the end of each week you will go back and see if your
plan needs to be tweaked. That brings us to...
 Using Weekly Planning Sessions for the Week
Ahead

A lot of people plan their upcoming week every Sunday evening. You can
pick whatever day works for you. Perhaps you have a regular day off from
work during the week. Whenever you 30 to 60 minutes of free time you can
devote to this activity, you are going to plan the upcoming week.

Make sure this is not a stressful occasion. Look forward to your planning
sessions. You are taking control of your life. Make sure your physical
environment gives you thoughts of peacefulness and tranquility, and is not
visually or audibly distracting.

Think about what you want to accomplish each day of the upcoming week,
as well as what you can do next week to make the following week easier.
Whenever you develop a plan of action, think 2 or 3 steps ahead instead of
just the next week or next month. In this way you won't end up forgetting
things you need to do until the last minute.

You may want to include others in your weekly planning sessions. The
people you live with may be able to give you important information you
would otherwise not have had that helps you plan next week, next month
and next year. Break out your hardcopy day planner and get to work. When
you are finished, read back over your plan.

When it looks like you have everything covered, input your data into your
electronic planner or time management application. Make sure you schedule
periodic timeslots throughout each week for free time. This is important both
for down time where you can de-stress and decompress, and it is also
important so that if anything should arise out of the blue, you have time to
handle the unpredictable task or activity.
 Using To-Do Lists the Right Way

To-do lists can be stressful. If you

are one of those people that likes to
put Post-it notes everywhere, that
visual clutter can cause more stress
that it alleviates. You go into any
room of your house and there are a
dozen yellow Post-it notes begging
for your attention.

If you come across one and realize

you have forgotten to do something,
you could experience stress and
anxiety. The purpose of this report is
to help you manage your time while
also taking as much stress out of
your life as possible. That means
using Post-it notes and to-do lists
the right way.

You may not be able to carry your physical day planner with you everywhere
you go. On the job you might be restricted as far as access to your favorite
electronic devices is concerned. This means you are going to have to create
short to-do lists that can be tucked into your pocket or purse. Here are a few
to-do list best practices that can help you get the most out of your time each
day.

● Start with Your Most Important Task First

This is always going to be the first thing you write on your to-do list, unless
you have specific time periods for certain activities. Fixing breakfast might
not be the most important activity you have each day. However, it is going
to be one of the first things you do in the morning. All things being equal,
whenever possible, schedule your largest and most important activity for the
start of your day.

● Always Use Physical to Do Lists

This is just as important as scheduling your life in a physical day planner. It
is too easy to turn off your computer, phone or some other electronic device.
When you do so, your virtual to-do list disappears. A physical list that you
can hold in your hand and refer to several times throughout the day or week
demands your attention.

● Keep Your To-Do List in the Same Place and Check It at the
Same Time Each Day

This is important. It helps you program your brain for habitual repetition. At
first you may have to force yourself to refer to your lists at the same time.
Follow this practice for a couple of weeks and it will become automatic
behavior. Performing this task at the same times each day will improve the
odds that you get everything done.

Time management experts recommend checking in first thing in the morning

and at night before you go to bed. When checking your lists at night, any
unaccomplished activities can be added to tomorrow's schedule in your day
planner, and to tomorrow's to-do list.

● Don't View Your Entire To-Do List with an All or Nothing

Mentality

When making your to-do list in the morning, there is no need to feel
overwhelmed. Some people look at everything on a list at once. You
certainly want to do this, but don't review the upcoming day’s
responsibilities as one giant piece of work. That is why you list smaller
activities and tasks separately. If you think about everything you have to do
today, this week and this month, you are needlessly cranking up the stress
meter.
 Calendar Tips

Do you have a physical calendar somewhere in your house? Is it one of

those big, square or rectangular calendars that you can't walk past without
paying attention? That's good. Somewhere in your home you should have a
large calendar that everyone in your family can view. It needs to be in a
place where it will be accessed regularly, and not tucked away in an
inconvenient spot.

Online calendars like Google Calendar can be accessed from all your
electronic devices. That is convenient, but don't forget that your physical
house calendar needs to be updated regularly as well. You can view this
physical calendar each morning and/or night while you are writing in your
day planner.

While your calendar should be handy and readily available, don't put it in
your bedroom or the living room. You don't need your calendar staring you
in the face when you are trying to sleep, relax or enjoy some down time.
Many people begin their days with a cup of coffee, and because of breakfast
preparation it might make sense to keep your large home calendar in your
kitchen.

You may think about using a whiteboard calendar. Whiteboards are erasable,
but that can sometimes be a problem. Information like phone numbers and
addresses can be accidentally wiped off of a whiteboard. This is a stress-
boosting instead of a stress-relieving situation. Use a paper calendar
instead.
 Setting Goals & Deadlines

Have you ever failed when trying to achieve some goal? It happens to us all.
We set our sights on something and we fall desperately short. Sometimes
you come really close to some accomplishment, and sometimes you are
nowhere close to where you wanted to be.

Failing to produce a desired outcome can happen for lots of reasons. Many
times some speed bump pops up out of nowhere. Things you have no control
over can happen in any aspect of your life. Other times it is just poor
planning that leads to a failed goal achievement. Sometimes this happens
because you were not specific enough.

Make Your Goals Extremely Specific

You probably understand that if your goal is "to become wealthy", that is
pretty vague. You may desire extreme wealth. There is nothing wrong with
that if you pursue the achievement of that goal in a healthy manner and
don't let a love of money ruin other areas of your life.

However, when you have a vague target, it is difficult to hit it.

In other words, if you don't know specifically what you are trying to hit, you
can't focus your aim. This means that your activities are born from a
scatterbrained mindset. If you tell yourself you want to be wealthy, you may
fall for every get-rich-quick scheme in the world. You have not given
yourself a specific goal and deadline.

At the beginning of this report we talked about taking some time to think
about your responsibilities and tasks. This is in order to schedule your life so
you manage your limited time effectively. You should spend some of that
time thinking about what really matters to you. You will find that the things
that are most important to you drive your behavior.

Your values and desires are what create your goals.

Take some time to check your values and desires and use them to create
your short-term and long-term goals. In the case of being specific, if wealth
is your objective, something like this might make sense.

"I want to be earning $5,000 per week by the end of the year. I
will do this by working diligently at my full-time job while
spending at least 20 hours each week monetizing my blog."

That is very specific. If you even wanted to get more focused, discuss which
monetization efforts you are going to make. Decide on how you will drive
traffic to your blog. Think about how you can earn more money at your full-
time job. The more specific your goals are, the more likely you are to
achieve them.

Don't forget about deadlines.

Numbers can be powerful motivators because they are hard fast. Saying you
want to achieve a goal by December 31 gives more definition and focus to
your goal than if you say you are going to achieve something by the end of
the year.
 Schedule Some Down Time Every Day

If you use your day planner properly you are going to be referring to it
often. At the beginning of each week, month and year you will be scheduling
your life. We already talked about leaving gaps in your day where you don't
have anything scheduled. This is so you can handle unforeseen
circumstances and life's hurdles as they pop up out of nowhere.

What you should also schedule daily and weekly are blocks of time for you to
relax. Maybe you like to read. Perhaps the most relaxing evening you could
imagine would be sitting with your significant other on your porch swing and
enjoying the sunset. Maybe you are a competitive person and like playing
sports with your friends.

Whatever it is that makes you smile and feel good about yourself, schedule
that activity regularly.

You should also make time for doing absolutely nothing. Taking a 20 minute
nap in the middle of the day is a productivity-enhancing practice that many
successful people swear by. You could also spend that time taking a walk
around your neighborhood or just closing your eyes and meditating.

If you think this is wasting time, you are wrong. Unless you allow yourself to
unwind and decompress from time to time, you are not going to be as
productive in your personal and business lives as you may think.
 Leave Physical Space for What Matters to You

We just discussed giving yourself blocks of time so you can recharge your
batteries. This means you are devoting time to things that are emotionally
and mentally pleasing and relaxing. In addition to creating a virtual space in
your life devoted to your emotional and spiritual well-being, there is also a
need for a physical environment where you can relax.

For some people this may mean turning a room into a library. Other people
are devoted sports fans. They have a room in their home dedicated to the
sports teams and individuals that matter to them. Your favorite place may
be outdoors. A hammock overlooking your ornamental garden may be your
favorite place in the world.

Whatever you do, however you plan to more efficiently use your time, make
sure you build a wonderful place you can retreat to whenever the need
arises.
 Reflect on What Has Happened in the Past, and
What You Need to Happen in the Future

Your day planner and time management applications can help you reduce
stress. Using them regularly puts you in a habitual and automatic mode of
planning and taking action. They can help you realize more free time, while
boosting your production and the things you get out of life in so many ways.

These time management and de-stressing tools work best when you use
them hand-in-hand with a diary or journal.

Journaling or keeping a diary can help you understand how to enjoy a more
emotionally and spiritually fulfilling life. When you journal your thoughts and
the things that happen to you from day to day, you learn important things
about your emotions and feelings.

Many times you can use this information to get better use out of your day
planner. You might find that certain activities you thought were helping you
are actually hindering your productivity and causing stress. Keeping a diary
or journal can also remind you of wonderful experiences you have had.

Make sure you are scheduling sometime each day for writing in your diary or
journal. You should also make time for reading what you have been
journaling. This is a powerful way to grow emotionally and mentally, and the
feelings and experiences you record can help you allocate your time for
fewer stressful activities.
 Exercise

Stress hates exercise. You may think if you have some mental or physical
stress that exercise is the last thing you want to do. Actually the opposite is
true. Did you know that when human beings move strenuously, their minds
and nervous systems make them feel happy? It's true. Exercise causes an
automatic release of hormones and other chemicals which make you feel
happy and peaceful.

Another thing exercise does to help you de-stress has to do with stopping
the flow of certain chemicals. There are hormones which cause you to stress
out. When their production is slowed down, you experience less feelings of
anxiety and stress. Guess what exercise does to these chemicals? You
guessed it. Moderate to intense physical activity slows down the release of
stress-related chemicals while increasing production of chemicals that
automatically and naturally make you feel good.

Add an exercise regimen to your day planner. Make some time for at least
30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity each day. This doesn't
need to be 30 minutes at a time. You can enjoy three 10-minute sessions of
activity and still reap the same rewards.

The most respected health organizations in the world recommend 150

minutes of moderately intense activity each week for mental and physical
health and wellness. You might not like the word “exercise”, and that’s okay.
Dancing, enjoying a brisk walk with a friend and digging around in your
garden will get your heart beating just like traditional exercises like cycling
or jogging.
 Conclusion

There are a lot of ways to increase your time management skills. As you
work through this report in an effort to lower the amount of stress in your
life while boosting your time efficiency, don't worry about being perfect. If
some things on this list bother your peace of mind or end up causing you
more stress instead of less anxiety, move on to some other time-saving
practice.

You will eventually discover the productivity-boosting and stress-relieving

things that work best for you. Everyone is different, and while the tips in this
report have been proven to work for a lot of people, they might need to be
tweaked for your unique situation.

Life is a journey, not a destination. There are always going to be things you
don't accomplish or don't achieve. Learn to accept those things which you
have no control over, and instead focus your energy on areas where you
control your actions. This will ensure you spend your time wisely, and don't
waste your time doing things which will not impact your life in a positive
way.