Expand you 24 hours! Tip 2 & 3 of 20

2. Find your essentials. What is it that you love to do? Make a short list of 4-5 things.
These are the things you want to make room for.

3. Find your time-wasters. What do you spend a lot of your time on that isn't on your
essential list? Take a close look at these things and really think about whether they're
necessary, or if there are ways to reduce, minimize or eliminate these things.
Sometimes you do things because you assume they're necessary, but if you give it some
thought you can find ways to drop them from your life. Figure out what you do simply to
waste time — maybe surfing certain sites, watching TV, talking a lot at the water cooler,
etc. You're going to want to minimize these time-wasters to make room for the more
important stuff, the stuff that makes you happy and that you love to do.

Expand you 24 hours! Tip 1 of 20

Are there a hundred different things you wish you could do with your life someday — anything
from exercising to meditation or yoga to writing that novel you always wished you could write
to reading more to relaxing and watching the sunrise? But perhaps you never have the time,
like most people.

The truth is, we all have the same amount of time, and it's finite and in great demand. But some
of us have made the time for doing the things we love doing, and others have allowed the
constant demands and pressures and responsibilities of life to dictate their days.
It's time to move from the second group back into the first. Reclaim your time. Create the life
you want and make the most of the free time you lay claim to. It's not hard, though it does take
a little bit of effort and diligence.

Not all of these will be applicable to your life — choose the ones you can apply and give them a
try:

1. Take a time out. Freeing up your time starts with taking a step back to take a good look
at your life. You need to block off at least an hour. Several hours or half a day is better.
A whole day would be awesome. A weekend would be even more ideal, though not
necessary practical for many folks. With this block of time, take a look at your life with
some perspective. Is it what you've always wanted? How would you get to where you've
always wanted to be? What do you enjoy doing, but don't have enough time to do?
What things actually fill up your day? Are there things you could drop or minimize to
make more time? We'll look at some of these things in the following items, but it starts
with taking a time out to think and plan.

Avoid Distractions and Lack of Focus.

Time is precious. Yet many people waste time by getting stuck in one or more of the following habits.


Procrastination - putting off important jobs.


Crises management - being overwhelmed by the current crisis. No time for routine matters.


Switching and floundering - lack of concentration and focus on one job.


Television, telephones and friends - these are all ways of avoiding work.


Emotional blocks - boredom, daydreaming, stress, guilt, anger and frustration reduce concentration.

Sickness - getting sick and blowing your schedule.



In all of these cases, the first step is to recognize the problem and resolve to improve. Use priority lists to focus attention. Try positive self-talk. To avoid distractions, find a quiet place to study, the library or a study hall. Get an answering machine.

Don't Create Impossible Situations.

Good time management means defining priorities and scheduling activities.

Don't get trapped into doing too much. Don't try to work full time and take a full load. Don't take too many lab classes. Use time to create success, not failure. Be realistic about school. For most classes, plan to study 2 hours for every 1 hour of class.

Make time your friend
not your enemy.

Identify your first priority classes and do whatever it takes to succeed. Drop second priority classes or reduce work hours if necessary.