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64 AFFLUENT MAGAZINE

LIFESTYLE

drive our time.

7. Just like email distractions, phone distractions

can affect your time management, too.

Write an agenda before making a phone call so you don’t forget the

important points. Keep a record or schedule follow-up calls of what

you’ve delegated so it doesn’t fall through the cracks.

8. Don’t allow yourself to get distracted.

Something as simple as putting a sign on your office door knob, saying

Do Not Disturb or In Session. Whether at home or in the office, others

won’t interrupt you because they know you’re busy and you will

remove the sign as soon as you are finished with your “quiet time.”

71% of professionals feel stressed about the amount of information they

must process and act on while doing business; 60% feel overwhelmed.

Institute of the Future, Menlo Park, CA

Consider the consequence when reading and acting on all of the tips

listed above. After all, our ability to manage time determines our

success as a business owner, mother, father and friend.

Tonia Tomlin is the Founder and President of Sorted Out™ and Sorted

Out Publishing. Tonia is an author, publisher, speaker and mother of

twin girls. She has been featured on HGTV’s Mission: Organization

and is the author of the book Chaos 2 Calm: The Moms-of-Multiples’

Guide to an Organized Family. For more information, please email

Tonia@SortedOut.biz or visit www.SortedOut.biz

o you ever feel frustrated when at the end of the day you have

this annoying feeling that you have NO idea what you

accomplished for the day? Often, when you’re trying to get the

most out of your day, normal things happen, like constant interruptions,

fires to be put out in the field and priorities that get put to the wayside

due to all of the above. Sitting in front of your computer at the end of the

day baffled, you wonder, “why is my To Do list still here?” Good news. I

can give you eight easy steps to avoid timewasters and get your time

organized and under control.

1. Organize your schedule at least a month in advance.

It’s the best tool for organizing your schedule to avoid timewasters, and

stick to your plan of attack.

2. Avoid schedule overload.

So many times I work with clients whose biggest problem is that they

are WAY too over-committed. Feel like you can do everything and

anything? Of course you can, but there simply isn’t enough time in the

day to do it all.

3. After traveling for work or for pleasure, give

yourself a day to get caught up.

Trust me on this one. Think about how many times you get backed up on

house chores, emails and incoming mail, because you don’t allow yourself

time to get organized. In reality, not giving yourself time is costing you

more money and stress.

4. Schedule “ME” time.

Whether it’s a massage, quiet time, bath time, a nap or a glass of wine

with friends, time scheduled away from work, home and everyday life

enlightens you to become independent from your work.

5. Gain 2-3 hours per day by working from your list.

When something comes to you, use a bedside notebook and write it down

immediately. You can increase your productivity by using this simple tool,

and not have to remember what it was that you needed to do in the

morning. Just do it when you are lying in bed.

6. Computer distractions are endless.

Check your email only at certain times during the day to avoid too many

distractions. We may think that real work is getting done by checking

email ALL the time, but really we are allowing other people’s needs to

TIME MANAGEMENT SECRETS

FOR ANYONE EVERYDAYBy Tonia Tomlin

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