I have so much to do, I don’t know where to start. I feel as though my wheels are spinning at one hundred miles an hour and I’m getting nowhere fast.
—Liz S.

I spend more time writing lists than actually getting anything done. I have little notes to myself everywhere, and still I forget things!
—Susan E.

I am good at starting projects but get sidetracked easily. Before I know it, the day is gone and I am left with a million and one unfinished projects.
—Bill B.

Balancing my life is so hard. I’m constantly changing hats between roles: wife, mother, employee, friend, boss. I always feel guilty taking time for myself because there’s so much everyone else needs. But, I am soooooo tired at night.
—Catalina F.

When life becomes about the million and one things on your to do list instead of getting to what is most important, and actually enjoying yourself, something is wrong. You don’t need to end each day exhausted, depleted, and unfulfilled instead of satisfied. You can get back in balance.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION?

Why are you reading this book? You picked it up for a reason— because there are meaningful activities you are not getting to. Something essential is missing from your life. What is it? Quality time for your family and friends? Time for a hobby? Time to grow your business? An overall sense of balance?

Before writing this book, I conducted an informal Internet survey and asked my Web site visitors why they wanted to become better time managers. More than 70 percent of fifteen hundred respondents said they wanted to find more time. What varied was what they wanted that extra time for. What do you want?

I want more time to spend with my friends, to work on craft projects, to have fun.
—Jenna B.

I want more time to talk one-on-one with my kids.
—Frank R.

To gain time for personal enjoyment—reading, listening to music.
—Lance L.

To be able to accomplish things. My bad time management is stopping me from accomplishing my goals in life, especially finishing my Ph.D., so I can be gainfully employed as a psychologist.
—Paula H.

To stop and smell the flowers, instead of trampling over them in a mad rush to be somewhere I should have been an hour ago.
—Stanley R.

I want peace internally—a sense of satisfaction at my accomplish­ments rather than constant frustration.
—Becca G.

To be able to feel like I can take time to do things I know I need to be doing for me everyday (spiritually).
—Kylie A.

Right now, at the beginning of this book, write down your own compelling reason. If there were one thing you could add to your life to make you happier and more fulfilled, what would it be? Jot that down on a piece of paper and keep it close by—paper-clip it to your daily planner, pin it to your refrigerator, or place it in your wallet.

I guarantee you that if you follow even one third of the strategies contained in this book, you will be able to add that activity (as well as many other fulfilling activities) back into your life. This one little statement will provide a starting point for your journey to be coming a better time manager, and will help you stay motivated as you learn new skills that may feel awkward at first. It can be a struggle to change ingrained behaviors, but when you focus on what you have to gain, it’s easier to succeed.

DEFINING GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT (FROM THE INSIDE OUT)

Time Management from the Inside Out is based on the belief that you have the power to make choices, take ownership, and influence the course of your days—instead of feeling victimized.

Good time management is not about buying a great calendar or planner. It is not about learning tricks to move faster, or about doing everything with mechanical efficiency. It’s about creating days that are meaningful and rewarding to you, and feeling a sense of satisfaction in each and every one of your tasks.

Time Management from the Inside Out is about designing a life that is a custom fit for you, based on your unique personality and goals. It’s about identifying what’s important to you and giving those activities a place in your schedule, and helping you feel deeply satisfied at the end of each day.

There is no “right” way to live your life. I won’t tell you to live a simple, calm life, or try to convince you to fill every waking mo­ment with intense, productive activity. This book doesn’t contain truisms like “The early bird catches the worm,” or impose value systems urging you to either work less or play less, or encourage you to be anything other than exactly who you are. What’s offered here is a process, not a prescription.

Time Management from the Inside Out honors and celebrates the fact that you are an individual. It allows for the expression of your unique and personal relationship to time, and the fulfillment of your own personal goals. We each have different needs at different points in our lives. There may be a time in your life when work takes precedence over everything else; another period when family becomes your priority. The tools here allow you to adapt your schedule and days to the changes in your own priorities. The strategies in this book are skills for life.

DEVELOPING A BIG-PICTURE VIEW

No matter how hectic life gets, the most successful people in life have a big-picture view that helps them rise above the chaos and maintain their perspective. A big-picture view is your overriding vi­sion, your belief, simply put, of the meaning of what your life is all about, of what you want it to be. Your big-picture view keeps you on track, providing the context and motivation for all your decisions about how you spend your time.

Your larger view is what keeps you going to the gym, and taking care of yourself, because you understand how feeling healthy and energetic helps you fulfill your other goals. Perspective makes it easier to do tasks you dislike because you understand how each task fits in with your higher life goals.

Your big-picture view gives meaning, motivation, and direction to your life. It’s your baseline, your springboard, and your landing place for handling all of life’s challenges, choices, and surprises. It becomes easier to cut tasks from your to-do list when you run out of time, while still feeling good about your day. You see that there are many ways to achieve your goal, and no one task will make or break your success.

The program in this book will help you develop your big-picture view and provide you with the practical tools for making your vision a reality. The lessons are presented in sections, starting with new ways of looking at time (part 1), a quick-start program to free up some hours quickly (part 2), and then moving into a full program for designing the life of your dreams (parts 3, 4, and 5). The pro- gram in this book follows the natural arc of mastery—focusing on technical skills toward the beginning and addressing psychological factors none fully toward the end.

TOOLS TO GET BACK ON TRACK

What this book will not do is provide a plan that will make your life run perfectly smoothly—no time management system can do that. No matter how well you plan, no matter how organized you are, no matter how skillful you are, there are countless things that could throw a wrench in your day.

Good time managers face that reality. They understand that good time management is not about creating the perfectly balanced life in which everything always goes as expected. It’s about having the tools to get back in balance, to come back to center, and to stay true to your own goals when you get thrown offtrack.

The program in this book will help you tune in to who you are and what you want, and then give you the tools to build your life around what’s most important to you. You can learn new skills and modify some behaviors, but you can’t really change your essence— and you shouldn’t. Together, we’ll go through a process of self discovery: your likes and dislikes, natural habits, needs, and de- sires. These preferences and little idiosyncrasies will become the foundation of your time-management system and help you recover each time you are thrown offtrack.

So, think back to that one critical task you never seem to find enough time for. Why aren’t you getting to that meaningful activity? You may be assuming there just aren’t enough hours in the day. But, sometimes, it pays to take a closer look.

The next chapter, “What’s Holding You Back,” is a diagnostic tool that will help you figure out why you aren’t getting to what really counts. Are your issues technical, external, or psychological? You might be surprised by how simple the solutions may be.