Trying to fit everything in a day can sometimes be overwhelming and no matter how perfectly scheduled your day is there just always seems to be something that throws a spanner on the works. If you can't find enough hours in a day to do everything that you want then you just might need to get a little creative. The key to maximizing your day is to realize that your long term success is dependent on your growth as a person. All to often we get caught up in the day to day tasks that we forget to see the bigger picture. Here are some handy tips to help you to maximize your day.

1. Learn while you are in the car. We spent countless hours a week traveling between destinations whether it be for work or leisure. The fact is that if you were to just play music it might be relaxing and soothing but you could utilize this time much more effectively. Why not learn a language or purchase an audio cd on a subject that you would like to learn more about. That way you can listen to something educational while you are driving. Imagine spending just as little as 15 mins each day learning a language or receiving information on a topic you enjoy. Add that up over a year and the hours you have now spent on it can get staggering. Fifteen minutes a day might not sound like much but your progress and growth over a few years can be staggering.

2. Learn to deal with priorities. Everything can seem like a priority if you don't know where you are going. If you don't know where you are going then you can easily be taken off track by other people's priorities. So the key to your success is knowing where you want to go in life and what your priorities are. That way you won't be pulled into other people's priorities and problems needlessly and wasting your time. Once you know your priorities you are in a better position to maximize your day at completing what is most important to you. A useful way to approach this is to write your top 5 most important and pressing tasks that need to be completed today. Then start with the most important one until you have it completed before moving onto the next one.

3. Get rid of time wasters. Things and habits that waste time can really start to cost our time. Time is one thing that you can't get back so its imperative that we recognize what is wasting our time and make adjustments to remove them from our daily schedule. Areas that are clear time wasters are checking your email constantly, working on tasks that are not priorities and mindless activities like TV. Once you have an idea of the areas in your life that are taking up unnecessary time then start a plan to overcome them. For example if you have a problem with email and are spending too much time on it then set up a time block each day where only during that time block are you allowed to respond to emails. That way you won't have the temptation to check it several times an hour.

4. Avoid waiting in lines. We have all experienced the long waiting lines when you are looking to get something done fast. With the improvement in technology we can now largely avoid many of these lines and therefore get back much needed time to spend on areas that are more important to us. You can now pay your bills online through internet banking instead of waiting in long queues, why not do some of your shopping that requires research online. That way instead of wondering around the shopping mall for hours you can do all your research and comparison online. You can then either decide to buy online or at the mall but you have at least cut down on time. If you spend an average of an hour a week waiting in lines that you could otherwise have avoided that is a saving of 52 hours a year that you can now spend on your family, with your partner or on a task that would actually get you closer to a goal.

5. Get yourself a PDA. Technology can be great when it comes to maximizing your time throughout the day. There are always moments through your day when you are either waiting or not doing anything productive. These are times like waiting for your next appointment, sitting in the reception or waiting in line. Some great tools to help you take advantage of these moments are the PDA's. Some may even be embracing smartphones which have a built in PDA and Phone. Whichever you gravitate towards they are indeed fantastic tools to help you make the most of quiet moments that you would otherwise waste away day dreaming or getting frustrated. If you had a pda you could read an ebook, write some notes or brainstorm or even write and follow up to emails. What is important here is that you won't even notice the time spent waiting and you've done something productive in the process.

6. Keeping yourself healthy. You aren't going to be able to maximize your day if you aren't feeling well. The key to staying on top of your game is to be healthy. Setup a routine of exercising at least twice a week and maintain a healthy diet. You are probably thinking that you have heard this all before but have you really actually made it part of your life. Exercising and a balanced diet can actually give you more energy and focus to enable you to maximize your day and the results you will get.

7. Find an escape to recharge during the middle of the day. Often we find ourselves starting to lose momentum during the middle of the day. This is a great opportunity to take a break and recharge. Why not take a short walk or even squeeze in a quick 20 minute nap. This will do wonders in rejuvenating you to finish the rest of your day strong and focused.

T Young
www.personalgrowthunlimited.com