Living life is difficult with responsibilities everywhere: work, family, significant other, hobbies and social life. (Yes, some of us want a social life!) To help relieve some stress, we had our clients, Jayasuriya & Associates, Renew Integrative Health Center and Stroller Strides, send in their time management tips and have compiled them for you:

1. Identify HOW you generally waste your time and learn how to say “NO” to that.

2. Prioritize your goals either by importance and/or the time BY WHICH the tasks need to be done.

3. Understand that for each deadline pushed back you must then invest more time to get back on your timeline, so stay focused!

4. Stay ahead of the game. Take a few minutes to set out school clothes, set up the coffeepot, prepare lunches and clear your desk. You'll be so grateful to have a less chaotic morning if you do all this the night before.

5. Identify your goals or tasks that need to be accomplished versus what you WANT to have accomplished. The key to managing time is learning how to discard the non-essentials.

6. Make a decision on what you can handle on your own versus what can and needs to be delegated. Be honest with yourself and make sure whatever you delegate is delivered in a timely fashion.

7. Stay focused, and don't get sidetracked. Make a list each month of what you intend to get done. Then break the list down week by week, then day by day. If you stay focused, you can stay committed to getting things done.

8. Be efficient with your processes and your technology. Learn to use all of the tools around you to the best of their capabilities to increase organization and avoid repeating tasks. Develop your own system of organization. Maintaining that system becomes one of your daily tasks.

9. Get--and stay--organized. Your work time is precious and not as dependable as it would be if you worked in a traditional workplace. You can't afford to waste time looking for files, sorting through junk mail or even finding a pen. Keep everything clean and organized from the start.

10. Other than accomplishing the goal/task, reward yourself with something meaningful to YOU!

11. Having efficient time management skills are necessary for any situation. Your time management is a reflection of your self-organization and work ethic. Time management isn’t just for work or professional settings, effective time management is balancing work and play to enjoy life to it’s fullest.