No matter what, 24 hours always seems like less time than we require in order to live the best version of our lives! The only possible hack for the same is to utilize these 24 hours effectively. Think about it, whenever you want to learn something new or make time for something special, how often have you given the excuse of not actually having enough time at hand?

Let’s do the math! If you take out 8 hours from these 24 hours for sound sleeping, you shall still have 16 hours left! Now take out 8 hours for your job or work schedule. You still have 8 hours remaining. Taking apart maximum 2 hours of traveling time also, you still have 6 hours! And what do you do in these 6 hours? Watch T.V., be on social media, talk over the phone endlessly, rest because you feel ‘too tired’, give excuses for not working out regularly, regret not being able to give quality time to your loved ones, and so on & so forth. Then what exactly do you need to do to prevent such misuse of these extra hours?

Learn to prioritize. Time management on a daily basis is nothing but giving priority to certain core activities during the day and then managing other small or peripheral activities as and when they come. So make a list of certain things that should not be sacrificed upon on a daily basis for you; like going to the gym, sound sleep, work, friends and family, a certain hobby, a certain passion project aside from your work etc. If you’d like to learn how to do that better, get your copy of ‘Time Management’ DVD here. You’d get numerous practical tips on the same.

The next step is to simply allot! Allot the major chunk of the time you have to these activities. Now be smart about it and not very strict or stern. You need to allot time such that it is dynamic to changing circumstances. For example, your mornings are an early visit to your Yoga class but in case you have an early meeting at work or if one of your relatives is coming to see you & you have to visit them at the airport at an early hour, don’t regret at missing your morning routine. Allot but be ready to adjust and not regret later.

Also, be ready to organize. Effectiveness is directly proportional to organization. This means that the more organized you shall be, the better your utilization of time. There are many planners and organizers available, so plan your day ahead of time. Make sure you organize your time a day before so that you are in full control of how your day & time is utilized. In fact, these days you even get meal planners. So in case you are trying to eat healthier and on time, you have meal planners which let you plan your meals beforehand!

Support your organization techniques through reminders. No matter how sinful the smartphones are, you have to give them the credit of allowing you to carry out your tasks on time because they are so useful in keeping track of time (& money!). So keep reminders on your smartphones because all of us tend to check them ever so often. For example, if you are planning to drink more water every day, keep hourly reminders on your phones to help you keep this habit intact. Similarly, if you don’t want to spend more time than required on a particular activity, let your phone remind you how much time you have left in that activity such that you stop doing it after a point.

In my ‘Change Your Life’ Workshop, I teach my participants a simple and one of the most effective techniques of ‘Time Management Log Chart’ where they realize how they were wasting 2-3 hours on an average daily.

These are some of the easiest tips that may help you overcome your laziness and manage the 24 hours that you have. And don’t forget that everybody’s sleeping hours and the time they require for some basic activities varies from person to person. So don’t follow my math blindly. Look at your own schedule and convenience to make up your mind and eventually your time!