Have you organized your day? You only have limited time

How many balls are you juggling?  And by balls I mean: writing, 9-5 job, family, social obligations, stay fit, school, etc.  I have some good news and I have some good news.

You want to hear the good news first?

The good news is that you and everyone else on the planet each get 24 hours in a day.

The other good news: you decide how you are going to spend your 24 hours.

Yes you have the power, you are the president, CEO, Boss of You.

When it comes to my personal management you can call me the Enron, Bear Stearns, the Lehman Brothers type of CEO. Which is why I am doing a daily self-audit, every night create a check list (I hate calling it a to-do list, but you can call it magical sprinkle moments.)

My check list contains all of the actions and activities I want to accomplish the following day. My checklist tends to be an exhaustive list for two reasons:

1. I am capturing all the things including the small stuff i.e. brush teeth, load/unload dishwasher
2. I want to drill down and understand how I am spending my time

Will this work for you? I don't know. Do I recommend it?  Yes. Why? Because over the years in my quest to be organized I have realized that organizational planning revolves around goal setting, behavior modification and forming positive habit.

What I have found is that most books, websites, coaches leave out the hard work the nitty gritty of "Know Thyself."  

Know yourself, how do you spend your 24 hours in a day? Are you up catching the late night shows? Do you need to decompress for at least 15 minutes after  you drink your coffee. Do you take a quick shower in the morning to wake up followed by a longer shower in the evening to detox from the day?  Do you sit at your desk at work and surf while you mindlessly eat your lunch? All of these activities take time how much time only you know.

When you are writing and you have a full time job you need to make as much of your time count. Which brings us back to my long check list, I am beginning to understand how I spend my time and how I can reallocate it so that I can do more of what I love: Writing.