Track and eliminate those schedule-hungry time wasters. It all starts with four letters:
KIDS
Keep an activity log.
Track everything you do for one week. Write down exactly how many minutes that activity took out of your day. No cheating!
Investigate every activity.
At the end of the week, use a numbering system from 1-5 to spot time wasters. Taking the kids to school gets a high priority 5. Reading spam in your inbox gets a low priority 1.
Delete time wasters.
Tally up the activities you rated 2 and under. Get rid of the time wasters. Spent 15 minutes a week looking for your purse? Put your purse on a shelf near the door so you'll always know where it is. Goofed off on the computer for 10 hours in one week? Keep the activity because it makes you happy but cut your time spent on message boards, social networking sites or reading email.
Savor your newfound time.
Reorganizing those bits of time just added valuable minutes back to your schedule. Take a long, hot bath to celebrate. No time tracking required.
