However, this doesn't just apply to my personal life, but to my working life as well. There are always more demands on my time than the time available. And as you can imagine this causes some stress for me.



Do you find this causes stress in your life? Do you have more demands on your time than available time?

You can go and buy a book on time management, but do you have the time to read one of those weighty tomes?

The best way to manage your time is to find what works best for you. Everyone has 24 hours in a day and the difference between the drunk on the street corner and Bill Gates is how those 24 hours are used.

The irony of it is that the more stressed you get, the worse your time management skills become.

Typically, time management is nothing to do with a lack of time, but is everything to do with a lack of discipline; the discipline to do what needs doing.

It's very easy to sit in front of the TV or lose time in a bar, but does that really help to reduce the causes of your stress or does it just mask the symptoms?

So here are some simple tips to managing your time:

1) How can you reduce the time spent in front of the TV and spend it working on reducing your stress?

2) How can you make use of dead time during the day to reduce your stress, e.g. your commute?

3) How can you perform your daily tasks more efficiently?

4) Only ever handle a piece of paper once and either file it, delegate it or recycle it

5) Set aside designated "play" time to perform your leisure activities

6) Switch off your email and instant messengers so you can focus on your tasks

7) Focus on only one task at a time

8) Eliminate unnecessary distractions

These are just eight tips to help you manage your time, but by implementing these simple 8 tips and thinking about them you can free up a lot more time. With more free time you can then either be less stressed or focus your efforts on reducing the actual causes of your stress.