Make time work for you!

Have you ever looked at your to-do list and said that there's not enough time in the day to get it done? Here is a very short tip that will help you keep that list in check. Let’s call it "Daily Five."

Here's what you do:

1. Look at your to-do list

2. Choose five things that can be done within an hour's time

3. Set a timer for one hour

4. Get those tasks done

Even if you aren't able to do anything else that day, you will have done five things already!

The great thing about this strategy is that you can repeat it as many times as you need to.

Learning to recognize and take advantage of downtime can also help you get things done and make time work for you. When your are sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office or waiting for your kids to come out of school or practice you can send a message to your spouse or significant other, your can order a gift for a special occasion, you can pay some online bills or even other dinner.

The five or ten minutes in between conference calls, or meetings could be used to send a group message out to the family asking about everyone’s day!

If you work from home, using those minutes to interact with the family goes a long way and may even lead to you having more peace while you work as well as giving you something to look forward to after you're done for the day.

Another advantage of recognizing and using downtime is that it helps you to get through the day faster, giving you more time to get other things done.

It's all about prioritizing your tasks to see what you can knock out quickly so that the bigger, more demanding jobs don't seem so ominous.

And always remember that :

“No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make others feel important.”

Mary Kay Ash