The secret to managing time successfully is being able to manage yourself, although we often think we don’t waste a minute of our time in reality this is far from true and there are many ways which we can manage ourselves more efficiently which ultimately leads to more successful time management. In order to successfully manage time there are strategies which you can use to stay more in control and relieve stress which plays a big factor in successful time management.

1. Attempting to do too much – in today’s busy world many people want things done yesterday and this only leads to rushing around and not doing a task properly, it also leads to mistakes and half-finished work with no real feeling of having accomplished anything with your time.
2. A lack of priorities – this is the single biggest cause of time wasting, in order to successfully manage time we have to know exactly what our priorities are for the day, by not prioritizing we spend too much time on the minor things and not enough time on the important ones.
3. Interruptions – we all get interruptions in our day, this could be someone dropping in and asking if you have a minute to spare, which usually turn into a half hour or more. Knowing how to successfully deal with interruptions in your daily life is essential to time management.
4. Procrastination – thinking about what you have to do instead of actually getting on and doing it is one of the biggest time wasters in your day, reduce the amount of time that you spend thinking and this leaves you more time for doing.
5. Learn to say “no” – many of us just cannot say the words “no” when asked if we mind doing something, this is usually out of fear of upsetting the other person, but if you are taking on the responsibilities of others then you are taking time away from your own workload or tasks and essentially robbing yourself of that precious time which leads to stressing you out.
6. Clutter – look around your desk or workspace, do you know where everything is? If you are asked for a file can you lay your hands on it or do you have to go rummaging to find it?, a cluttered desk or workspace is a time waster.
7. Set deadlines for yourself – work out a reasonable deadline for a particular project and make sure that you stick with the deadline.

Manage your e-mails and phone calls – where possible manage when you read your e-mails and take phone calls better, this was you are not continually breaking off to answer a call or reply to an e-mail. Set aside

In today’s busy world staying on top of things and being able to successfully manage your schedule is essential if you want to remain stress free, a schedule is all about planning your day more efficiently which ultimately ensures that you get everything accomplished that you wish to. The most efficient way to do this is to list your time and tasks in order of priority and determine what top priority is and to set out goals in your life that you want to accomplish.

Determining goals and priorities

In order to be able to manage your time more efficiently and get the most out of your day you must be able to be in control of your life and decide exactly what it is that you want out of life and what you need to do in order to reach what you want. The next decision is managing your priorities efficiently; you do this by determining what is more important to you. The next step is analyzing what you do with your time by finding out exactly how much time you spend on a particular task in life, a journal will help you greatly with this part and you should make a list of your schedule and daily life and determine exactly how long you take on certain activities. Activities you should include could be working, studying, exercising, sleeping and relaxation, once you have done this you can then go on to evaluate the use of your time and determine the best schedule for making better use of it.

Matching available time with your priorities

In order to best manage your time and make your day more efficient you need to take a look at the detailed list you prepared and use your time to match your priorities. As well as taking into account the amount of time you actually spend on each task you should also ask yourself if you are spending enough quality time on a task. A good example of this would be that if you studying then are you studying when you are likely to take in more information or is studying fitted in whenever you can, if you are leaving studying until the end of the day then you are likely to be tired and wont concentrate as well as you would earlier on in the day.

Tips for managing your time more efficiently

• Break down large tasks into smaller ones and tackling each individual part one at a time can ease the stress considerably than facing one larger task
• Get rid of routine tasks, if a task is done just out of routine instead of necessity then eliminate it if possible.
• Look at your habits to see if they could be changed, maybe you could do certain things different ways and save yourself some time in the process.
• Evaluate yourself to determine if you are a morning person or night person and organize tasks to use whatever time suits you best.
• Learn to say the word “no” when asked to do something for someone, don’t be continually put upon by others who know you cannot refuse them, its ok doing favors but it can take considerable time from your day.

Having a sense of purpose in your life goes a long way to helping you feel confident, secure and happy. A sense of purpose can be brought about by anything in life, it can be related to your career, bringing up a family or doing voluntary work. It is all about fitting in and feeling you are making a difference in life, that you are achieving something and getting somewhere.

If you have a sense of purpose in life you have something to look forward to everyday, a reason for getting up out of bed in the morning with a smile, it makes you feel good on the outside and so good on the inside. It leads to a more confident person who is happy with their position in life.

Younger people very often have no problem developing a purpose in life, they are just starting out and the majority of them have exams to pass, careers to start building, meeting the opposite sex, dating, marrying and eventually starting their own families. The majority of the younger generation has a lot to look forward to and so have a sense of purpose in life.

However the older we get, uncertainty can set in and we can start wondering about our purpose in life. Perhaps the children have grown up and are no longer dependant on you. Relationships break up or we reach retirement age and no longer have our work as a purpose in life.

The older generation then has to develop a new sense of purpose in life, luckily there are many ways you can achieve this, and here are some of the more common ones.

• Take up a new hobby and do something you have always wanted to do but have never had the time before.
• Join a social club, there are many social clubs which let people of the same age group meet on a regular basis and enjoy coffee and chatting. A lot of these groups have activities you can take part in and outings to attend.
• Join an exercise group either locally or at a gym, there are various types of exercise you can take part in without being too strenuous. Swimming meets are a great idea for the older person.
• Take up a sport such a tennis or bowling e.t.c.
• Visit family and friends on a regular basis and have them come over for dinner
• Take up some voluntary work for a few hours every day, it gives you a sense of purpose and gets you out of the house.
• Take a part time job that you can adequately cope with for a few hours per week.

A loss of physical energy
If you are continually faced with stress then it can have a draining effect on your body and mind, this will make you feel as though you have less energy and can make you totally lethargic. You may no longer have the interests you once had or the social life you once did, even the thought of getting out of bed may seem like too much trouble.

Frustration
Stress leads to frustration because you may feel sad for no particular reason, impatient or even ever changing moods, this will eventually lead to you feeling as though you are losing control over your life or that you no longer have the ability to control it.

Problems in relationships
You may find that you are letting relationships slide, this could be because you find yourself losing patience with people around you, you have less interest in things you used to do with others or you feel you cant mix with people you used to like being with.

A pessimistic outlook
When you are feeling burnout it gets increasingly harder to become excited about life and the things you used to do and enjoy, your thoughts turn ever increasingly to negative ones rather than positive and you find it harder to look on the bright side in any situation. It becomes almost impossible to take life with a grain of salt and let even the smallest of things roll off your back and you gradually get deeper into a rut.

Tips to avoid burning out
• Learn a relaxation technique such as meditation
• Get plenty of exercise every week
• Make sure you eat a sensible and healthy diet
• Take time out for yourself everyday
• Learn to shrug your shoulders and cast aside anything that you cannot possible change
• Do something that you enjoy doing everyday
• In a particularly stressful time, relax as best as you can, take slow deep breaths and count to 10

• Learn to let your feelings out, a problem shared is a problem halved, so find someone you can trust and in your times of need lend their shoulder. At the very least get your feelings out by writing them down in a daily journal.
• Never put anyone above yourself, by comparing yourself to others you are frequently putting yourself down and this can lead to low self-esteem or feelings of envy.
• Take time out of your day to just do something which you enjoy doing. By taking a half-hour from the day and just devoting this time entirely to yourself, you are telling yourself that you are worthy.
• When things are getting you down remember to smile, always look for the funny side of any situation no matter how bad it is.
• Use whatever self-help methods work best for you to help you to relax more easily. There are a variety of methods you can use, including audio CDS, books, DVDS, exercise classes, meditation or relaxation exercise
classes. In order to be happy and healthy you have to be able to release stress before it builds up.
• Don’t allow anyone to put you up on a pedestal; this will lead you to believe you have let someone down when things don’t go right.
• If your work is getting you down then ask yourself, are you in the right work? It is also important to remember that there are always some thing’s that every one dislikes about their work. Take the good and bad into account and weigh them up.
• Remember to take short breaks throughout the day, if at work then this could be something as simple as stretching your arms, legs and back by taking a walk to the coffee machine.
• Practices developing a more positive attitude towards everything in your life, if there is something you are not happy about, ask yourself what you need to do to change things.
• Get some form of exercise everyday, exercise helps to ward off diseases, makes us feel better, sleep better and is a great form of stress relief.
• Eat a sensible diet that includes plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables while cutting down on fatty foods, salt and starch.
• Keep a journal; this can benefit you in many ways by allowing you to get your thoughts and feelings out.
• Make goals that you work towards to achieve what it is you want out of life.

All people say that they want to succeed in life at whatever they do but very few are willing to actually push themselves them little bit further in order to achieve their goals, and this is why some of us succeed in life and others fail. How well you succeed is all about how bad you want the success, what it means to you, are you willing to succeed a little or are you willing to go the whole way and beyond to achieve a higher status and be outstanding?

We all start out with the best of intentions when racing towards the goals we have set, we shoot out of the starting gate and run down the straight but many of us fall back at the first hurdle, we don’t push, we run out of steam when the going gets tough and don’t pause to catch our second wind but come to a halt and give up, or stumble on half heartedly and cross the line in second or third place at best.

Those who do have the winning streak in them, who know that with a little extra push and a pause to catch their breath and then a final sprint down the home straight and past the winning post a head in front of their competitors are the ones that end up with the glory and true success in life.

Of course all those who are successful don’t just rely on pushing themselves, all winners have a strategy and are willing to be flexible on their way to success because life has a way of throwing many different spanners into the works along the way. We have to be able to adapt to these unexpected happenings when they occur and not get bogged down, we have to take them in our stride, skip around them and continue in the race.

Never settle for anything less than giving it you’re all

Here are some tips to help you remember never to settle for anything but your best no matter what the project is

• It doesn’t matter how big or small the project put your all into getting it completed
• If you think you have given it your best shot, pause and ask yourself “could I improve”
• Plan our your project but always be willing to make changes and work your way around the unexpected
• It’s ok to pause but get back into the race and carry on until you pass the winning post.

• Treat your body – while we exercise to take care of our body we should also remember to give it a treat, pamper it a little. This could be by way of a massage after a hard days work when it is tired and stressed or something as simple as standing up and giving it a stretch to ease knotted muscles.
• Take time out – refresh your body and mind by giving yourself some space, some time just for you, this could be as little as five minutes where you find peace and solitude by closing your eyes and deep breathing. The longer you can take time out from your busy day just for yourself the better.
• Let your inner child out – can you remember how much simpler life was when you were a child; go back to your childhood for a short while. Do something you used to enjoy doing as a child, this could be anything from rollerblading, lying on your back and finding shapes in the clouds, making a daisy chain or playing on a swing.
• Comfort yourself – we all have something that comforts us in times when we need it, something that make us feel safe and secure. Take time out to comfort yourself every now and again. This could be sitting in front of a roaring fire and watching the flames dance, relaxing in a hot bubble bath surrounded by candlelight, snuggling up in a favorite blanket or a particular smell that relaxes you.
• Relax in fantasy – take time out to go out of your world and into another, this could be by way of a book, magazine or film. Or better yet visualization; go into your own fantasy world, created by your own mind.
• Treat yourself to a mental health day – treat yourself to a whole day of just doing whatever it is you enjoy doing, don’t do any work or even think or feel guilty about what you should be doing. Just make the day all about you.
• Rediscover nature – reconnect with the world around you by taking a long walk through the park, notice how green the grass is and how blue the sky and marvel at the weird and wonderful shapes of the clouds drifting over the sky.
• Do something you keep putting off – take time out to do something you have been meaning to do for a long time. Don’t keep putting it off, make today the day to do it.

These are just some of the ways you can help to improve your health by taking care of your mental health, just open your mind and be more aware of your body and mind and you will discover many other ways to take care of your mental health which ultimately leads to a happier and healthier you, overall.