Reclaim Your Time by Conchetta Jones

Conchetta Jones is an Author, Model, Speaker and Certified Overflow Coach. As Founder/Owner of She's All That! Woman, a Personal Development & Lifestyle Company, she helps women to identify the obstacles in their lives that are keeping them stuck from living the life of their dreams.

By now most of us have heard Maxine Waters infamous line “reclaiming my time” I thought it was humorous how she stopped Steve Mnuchin, who was talking loud, saying nothing and basically using up her time. But as I thought about it more, I realized that like Maxine, we also have people who waste our time with their agendas, and in some instances we waste our own time. How many times have you gotten caught up during the day? You went on Facebook to check out one post and ended up spending an hour or more searching through the posts. Or you get a phone call from a friend who asks you if you have a minute? And 30 minutes later you are still trying to hang up. It is easy to get into the trap of wasting time. And while sometimes this might not be a bad thing, if you continue to allow this to happen you will end up with a lot of undone projects and a whole lot of wasted time. There are many books, videos, classes and articles on time management. I’m quite familiar with them and I’m sure you are too. But it never hurts to be reminded of the basics. So like Aunt Maxine, when it’s time to reclaim your time, here are some tips to get you back on track.

Use your planner – Make sure you have a planner, whether it is the old-fashion paper planner or one of the new digital ones or even your phone calendar.  But only have one. It is very frustrating to have information in several different places. Also make sure you schedule out everything you have to do, including family time, personal time etc.

Write it down – Write down everything you do daily. This activity will show you where you are wasting time and also where you need to be spending more time.

Schedule each task – Use your timer and put a time limit to your tasks. Allow 30 minutes to check your email them move on to the next task allotting the amount of time you want to get the job done.

Delegate - There are some things that you are doing that should be assigned to another person.

Say no – Many times we take on added responsibilities because of our inability to say no. If it does not benefit you, or you don’t feel at peace doing it, then don’t do it.

Prepare the night before – Pack lunches, choose outfits the night before, and anything else that will help you during that morning crunch time.

Watch out for these time stealers – Checking your email several times a day, Facebook, Twitter, phone calls.  These things seem innocent enough, but they can really throw your schedule off.

The next time you find yourself wasting time, remind yourself that like Aunt Maxine, you are reclaiming your time.

Learn more about Conchetta Jones via her website at www.satwoman.com and follow her on Twitter @confidencekoach