?My, my?..Look at the time.?

All these expressions suggest one thing. Time waits for no one. Time is important and you must utilize it to the fullest. What would be the best way to win the race against time?

Start with your habits. Make a list and examine your daily activities. Find out which among these eat most of your time and lead to lowest productivity. Look at these:

1.Too much TV time is the number one time stealer. TV time eats up time that should have been spent for sleeping and recharging.

Being hooked with movies or TV shows that keep you awake until late nights and early mornings can leave a heavy toll on your health. Sleeping with the TV on deprives you of a restful, continuous, and peaceful sleep. More often that not, these programs can wake you up in the middle of sleep, that you may find it difficult to doze again.

2.Nightly parties are also time stealers. Socializing can be fun and rewarding, especially if you aim to establish a wider network of friends. There is nothing wrong with going out with friends.

But doing this every night can really be a waste of time. Hang over results from too much liquor the night before. As a result, you cannot work productively the morning after. You become irritable due to lack of sleep. An irritable businessperson must keep watch of his temper, for clients might take their businesses elsewhere.

3.Accepting responsibilities more than you can handle will definitely affect your schedules. Learn to say ?no? courteously. Limit your activities to those that produce more results. Pacing your assignments will help in keeping stress to the minimum.

Be on the look out for ?time stealers,? those crafty people who will try to pass on their responsibilities to you. Leave time for yourself. Don't give them all away.

Other time stealers are officemates who spend too much time chatting over the phone, those who use too much of their time discussing personal lives, and those who lament and loudly complain about their plight. All these can rob you of the concentration needed to be able to accomplish the assigned tasks.

4.Giving way for the convenience of others is a sure way to waste time. Imagine this scenario: You have been waiting in line. A good friend just arrived and sees the long line. He approaches and asks you to give way, for he will be late in another appointment. Will you give way?

Sacrificing your time for those in need of help is virtuous. However, sacrificing your time for those who want to put one over you is a no-no.

5.Lack of discipline will lead to mismanagement of time. Say, you are having a drink with friends and you have set your time limit. Upon reaching the time limit, you realize that you are having a great time that you allow yourself a little extension of another half-hour. After one extension, you again allow yourself another half-hour extension.

This kind of scenario becomes habitual and can eat much of your time. Be definite with your time so that you can utilize it gainfully.

These are just a few of the common time stealers. Be conscious of these habits that can definitely wreck havoc to your schedules. Keep in mind that time is important and you must muster every effort to utilize it to the fullest.