Time management is a life skill and a discipline. It is not a principle to be applied to just one life area; it is something we need to apply across all our life areas.

For some, time management comes quite naturally, for the rest of us we have to work at it. Our home/work balance can be a fine line if we submit to the temptations of distractions - the most common cause for not completing what we planned to do.

Of course, there will be distractions that require our attention, perhaps a call from a customer or client, or if you are a working parent or guardian, from a child. As the saying goes, you make plans and then life takes over, and to compare ourselves with others that appear to have it all under control, is not helpful and not necessarily true. All we can do is be the best that we can be, and that in itself will make us different for every one of us.

To give yourself the best possible chance of succeeding, here are some techniques that you can apply to improve your time management:

Emails, family and friends calling on the off chance to catch you in, or perhaps the people you live with are all potential distractions. There is only one way to deal with these distractions and that is, wherever possible, to manage them the best we can.

When working towards a bigger goal, break it down into bite size pieces and start the day or week off by asking yourself three questions to move you forward and focus the mind:

• What do I want to achieve today (or this week)?
• What do I need to do to make that happen?
• How long do I need to achieve this goal?

E-mail – the beast!

How often do you find yourself in your email system? Do you click-in every time you here the ‘ping’ in your inbox? And then find yourself clicking on an interesting looking website link and before you know it half an hour has vanished? The key is to control your use of the email, don’t let It control you. Allocate an amount of time perhaps 15 minutes to deal with your emails once or twice a day, or whatever works for you. Make a plan and stick to it.

To do list

Compile a daily list of what you want to realistically achieve and once made don’t add to it. Deal with one thing at a time and tick off as you work through. A sense of achievement is a great reward and will keep you motivated.

Organise your time to your advantage

Identify a part of the day when are you at your best and use this time to be more creative and strategic. Use the rest of the time to deal with routine chores, or what’s on your to do list.

Family and friends

Let your family and friends know your working hours so that they can avoid disturbing you during these times. Just because you work from home doesn’t mean that you are always available.

Consider what else distracts you from achieving your goal of the day/week, and plan how you will deal with it.

If you find that you have days of procrastination or a lack of motivation, perhaps there is something going on at a subconscious level. In which case, the bigger questions to ask your self are; what is stopping me? What am I avoiding?

Tune in to your inner voice and how you are feeling to find the answer.

By Wendy Reeves. Wendy Reeves runs LifeGoal a lifestyle business, providing coaching services. She is a qualified professional coach, specialising in business and personal lifestyle – helping clients to be the best they can be.