The demands on our time are greater now than ever before. With information coming at us faster than we can digest it, responsibilities handed to us faster than we can handle them and communication moving at breakneck speed, finding ways to fit as much as possible into your day is a daunting task to say…

Are you usually punctual or late? Do you finish things within the time you stipulate? Do you hand in your reports/work on time? Are you able to accomplish what you want to do before deadlines? Are you a good time manager? If your answer is “no” to any of the questions above, that means you’re not…

Most of my free time, except when I’m doing it on purpose, tends to come in short blocks. I rarely have 2 hours free, but might, over the course of a work day, have those same two hours in twelve ten-minute bursts. I realized recently that, for the most part, I waste all of this free…

There’s a lot of information out there on achieving work-life balance, and a common productivity suggestion is that you structure your workday. I’ve found that one invaluable tool for getting these two things dealt with effectively is knowing not just how much work you have to do of what kind each day, but how long…

In my first post in this series , I discussed the steps I had begun to take in putting my GTD system back in order. I started by outlining my life at the moment (especially my Areas of Focus”) and sketching out a vision of myself in…

For any number of reasons, some people prefer paper to electrons for keeping track of their schedules, to-do lists, and other organizational needs. If you’re one of those people, you simply have to check out the products available from WeekDate. WeekDate makes one of the most innovative paper planners on the market, their…

When are you at your creative peak? That is, what time of day do ideas flow most easily for you? What activities bring your best ideas to the surface where you can most easily gather them up? A recent survey by the Crown Plaza hotel group suggests that certain times and activities are more

One of the first things people do when they make the decision to “get organized” is buy some kind of calendar. It might be a dayplanner, a desktop “blotter-pad” calendar, a Palm or Blackberry, or some other kind of device or system they can schedule all their appointments and obligations in. Most of us instinctively understand…

There are a million and one demands on your time and, whether or not those demands are legitimate, it’s hard to carve out the time necessary to take care of your responsibilities. You have to be ruthless with your time — you have to take care of important tasks before handling issues that just aren’t…

Work. Kids. School. Sports. Second job. Partner’s job. The next great American novel. Your knitting circle. Remodeling the guest bathroom. Taking your car in for its 30,000 mile tune-up. An on and on and on — it seems like we have things to do in abundance. What we don’t ever seem to have enough of…

We all have those tasks and projects that we plan on doing ‘someday’. The problem is that someday isn’t very specific. Will you ever do these things? Someday, maybe; but how about we schedule these one day? Don’t worry about how silly or trivial they might sound. Don’t think about how ‘unimportant’ they are. If you…

Got that Monday (and every other work-day) morning feeling? Here’s how to begin each new day as if you can’t wait to get started. This is my 100th article for Lifehack.org. That set my mind thinking about beginnings and endings. Last week, I wrote about how to leave work gracefully, so it seems natural to follow…

This week marks the beginning of the Fall semester for me, and as usual, I have a crazy schedule. I thought I might share some of the things I do to manage the frenzy that the life of an adjunct can be, in the hopes that it might give you some ideas about how to…

A twenty five hour day isn’t coming any time soon. As long as your feet stay planted on the ground here, twenty four is all you’re going to get. However, with a bit of skill you can squeeze out a couple more hours to add to your day. Here’s how…

Actually, Marc Andreessen at pmarca.com suggests that eliminating your commitment to scheduling all together is the key. This idea comes from a wonderful book called A Perfect Mess, which explains how not keeping a schedule has been key to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s success as a movie star, politician, and businessman over the last 20 years. Want to meet…