Make More Time for Yourself
Here’s how to tame your schedule — and claim carefree minutes for yourself
from real simple.com

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/0,21861,1734800-1815371,00.html?xid=weeklynews

Time can be on your side — if you re-shape your schedule. With the help of a dozen psychologists, researchers, and coaches, Real Simple came up with a three-part plan to reseize the day.

Step 1: Step Back (for a Second)
Figure out why you want more free time. “You can’t win a game you haven’t defined,” says David Allen, a productivity expert and the author of the best seller Getting Things Done (Penguin Books, $15, www.amazon.com). You’ll be more motivated to change if you have a specific goal.

Make a wish list. Write down all the activities that you long to do more of — whether they’re things that make you happy, relaxed, sane(r), or all three. For example: going for a swim, sleeping until you’re no longer tired, volunteering on a project you care about, or getting an hour all to yourself. Rank the items in order of importance to you, then pick one or two to focus on first. (Once you get the hang of this system, you can address the rest.)

Now write down how you really spend your time. If it’s all one makelunchcarpoolrunlikeachickenwithitsheadcutoff blur, keep a detailed diary for a few days. (Want some encouragement — and comfort that someone’s life is as crazy as yours? Check out the diaries of three Real Simple readers.) “You might be surprised by how little time you spend doing things you love most,” says Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a father of three young children who transformed a diagnosis of fatal pancreatic cancer into a crusade to urge others to live every moment. The Last Lecture (Hyperion, $22, www.amazon.com), a book he coauthored, is a New York Times best seller. Says Pausch, “The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have.”