Are you finding it difficult to fit all of the things you want to do into each day? Do you wish you could spend less time working and more time with your family? Do you find that you don't have time for the things that matter to you?

Hopefully, this isn't you but unfortunately most of us feel this way some time. Perhaps you are spending extra hours each evening at the weekend trying to get your work completed. Or you just do not have enough leisure time to pursue your hobbies and do the things you enjoy.

Do not fret, your worries could soon be over. There is a solution to this problem and it is far easier than you might think. Simply by changing the way you approach the use of your time you can find the hours to do all the things you want to, and even have some time left over. As well as finding more time for the things you want to do, you will also be more fulfilled in your life.

Time Management Techniques - Manage yourself

We have only so much time in each day. That is not going to change so we are going to have to accept it. You can not manage time, but you can manage yourself. This is the secret of effective time management. You have to identify the things in life that truly matter to you - this is where you should spend your time. Everything else is just a waste of time.

It is important to point out at this stage that making the changes necessary to manage your time effectively can mean making some fundamental changes in your lifestyle. However, there is no need to rush, you can make the necessary changes at your own pace. It is best to go slowly, at least to begin with, as you may not succeed if you try to do too much, too soon.

Time Management Techniques - Know yourself

Knowing yourself is the essential first step on the road to effective time management. In modern society there are so many distractions we can easily lose our focus on what we really want in our lives. For most people, this is an unfortunate fact of life.

So this is the first step in effective time management - finding out what you really want from life. This is where you find your vision. Remember a time earlier in your life when you felt anything was possible. How did you envisage your life at that time? This could help you to get in touch with your vision. It is likely that some of your priorities will have changed since then, but many will have remained the same.

Think about how you would like your life to be at home and at your work. You should also think about your capabilities and what is possible for you in life. This is your vision.

Where are you now?

At this stage you probably have a fairly clear picture of what your ideal life would be like. So here comes the tough part. I want you to compare this vision of your ideal life to your life as it really is now. Be prepared for a shock here as there will most likely be a vast difference between the two.

Don't worry if this is the case as bridging the gap between your ideal reality and your life now is much easier than you would expect. Many people think effective time management is all about calendars and diaries. Not so. Effective time management can transform your life on a much more fundamental level.

Achieving your ideal reality will involve little changes and big changes in your life. An example of a minor change would be eating healthier. Quitting your job and starting a business, that is a big change. However, both are achievable with the right approach. You will have to take a close look at how your hours are spent and make the necessary adjustments so you can achieve what you want to achieve.

Planning your day.

To get started you should choose two goals that are important to you, one big and one small. Now, you want to think of one small step you can take towards achieving these that you can incorporate into one day. If you can complete the one step towards achieving each goal then you have made an excellent start.

In truth, there is much more to it than this but this will show you that it is far from impossible and can be very rewarding. However, you must be much more meticulous in planning your days so that you complete everything you need to do while only spending time on the things that really matter to you.

This is where a time plan comes in. You need to have a very clear idea of what needs to be done, how long it will take, and when it is going to be done. If it is your first time using a time plan you may want to keep a time log for a week or two first. In your time log you need to write down what you do every day and how long it takes. Keeping a time log for a week should give you a clear picture of how long the various tasks you need to do take. When you know this you can plan your days much more accurately and effectively.

The 4 Ds of time management

Now you can move onto looking more closely at the things you need to do each day and deciding how to handle them. For this you will need the four Ds of self-management. These are:

* Do it - This can not wait and needs to be taken care of now. * Delegate it - It needs to be done, but someone else can take care of it. * Dump it - This is not important, thrash it. * Defer it - This needs to be done, but it can wait until later.

You should be able to file any task that arises in your average day under one of the four Ds.

Time wasters

And finally a quick word on time wasters. Time wasters eat into our time and can make it very difficult to manage our time effectively. They can be the most trivial of things, and are therefore very hard to spot.

Here are just a few time wasters:

* Lack of or poor planning - File things properly, write down appointments, that kind of thing. Basically, you need to be organized to use your time effectively.

* Procrastination - If you keep putting things off you will miss all the best opportunities in life.

* Not delegating - No one person can be good at everything. You need to delegate tasks that eat into your time unnecessarily to other people.

* Interruptions - Don't let clutter and noise eat into your productive time. Make sure there are no interruptions when you want to work.

These and other time wasters are probably eating into your time, so try to identify them and get rid of them.

This was a crash course in time management but should get you started. There is no need to hurry, take the changes you need to make at your own pace. Each of these small steps will bring you closer to your vision and leave you with time to do all of the things you want each day.