Successful time management allows for more control over personal accomplishments, more productivity at home and work, and results in more quality time to relax and enjoy life. In addition, good time management skills help reduce stress. After all the major goal of any time management function is to avoid the stress of having everything come at you all at once in the first place.
             By studying your time usage from day-to-day, you can provide a start in implementing better time management skills. Survey your time by breaking down a one week span of time, adding up how much time is spent sleeping, grooming, preparing and eating meals and snacks, working or going to school, traveling to and from work or school, socializing, and other tasks such as homework or general work periods which happen from time to time. Subtract this weekly total from 168-hours-in-a-week to determine the number of remaining flexible hours. Efficient use of time can be mastered through the use of a few basic steps.
             Schedule each day and stick to that schedule. Be cautious in allowing "emergencies" to get you off-track. So called emergencies are most often category III events and therefore can usually be ignored. Your goal, remember, is to find time for as many category IV activities as you can.
             Learn to politely say "no" when requests for time do not fit into your schedule. Ask for a rain check if the activity is one that you would like to participate in, but at a later date. This way you can take part in the activity, but not at the expense of your schedule. Learning to say "no" may require some practice in the mirror if it is difficult to turn down requests for your time. "No, not at this time" may be an option that works well if it is difficult to say no.
             Decide in advance which tasks do not need to be done perfectly, so that perfectionism does not consume too much of your time. Difficult tasks are often the on
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