What is the thing that we each have but can never seem to have enough of? The thing that we think we have an ever-abundant supply of yet find that it often gets cut short? If you guessed “time” you’d be right.

We never seem to have enough time, so how can we materialize more of it? How can we make it so that we have enough time to accomplish everything we need to when we only ever get 24 hours a day?

Simple, we need to better manage what little time we do have. You may have less time available for your tasks than the next person but the way you use your time ultimately determines your results. You’re going to learn how to use your time effectively so that it feels like you have more of it.

Before I show you exactly how I plan and execute my time management plan, I'm going to share with you some basic and not so basic information about improving your time management. If you're short on time - Click here to jump straight to my secret.

Now, when it comes to improving time management there are no hard and fast rules. You have to work in accordance with your own style because even though we each have the same 24 hours, because of our own individual needs, the way in which we use those 24 hours will be different.

So, what are some ways of improving time management?
Here are a few to get you started:

Is what you’re doing currently working for you? If you’ve tried in the past to manage your time but find that you’re still unproductive you need to find out what your style of time management is. What works for someone else may not necessarily work for you.

For example, the analogy best suited to this example is running. Are you a sprint runner or a marathon runner? Are you equipped for endurance or short, intense bursts?

Why I ask this is because it determines your working style. Rather than scheduling your time in blocks, why not try taking micro-breaks every hour? Some people work better when they work in short bursts while others work better in undisturbed time chunks. You have to find out how you work by scheduling one day to work in 2-3 hour blocks and the other day taking a 5 minute break for every hour you work. If you can determine what type of worker you are, you’ve won half the battle. Don’t worry, most people go through life without giving this a second thought and then wonder why they’re never productive, that’s because they don’t know how they tick and what works best for them.

Another way of improving time management is to prioritize. Take the most mundane or difficult tasks and do them first, this way you will push through the drudgery you would normally experience reserving these tasks later on in the day. When you complete the most difficult tasks first you’re less likely to procrastinate them later on throughout your day.

Writing out your time management plan also dramatically increases your success. By having everything clearly written you can chart a path towards proper and efficient use of your time. And “writing” does not necessarily refer to putting pen to paper. It is also possible to employ various organizational software programs as a means of effectively improving time management without breaking the bank. Look no further than the calendar tools you have in your hard-drive, you’d be amazed at how effective they can be for organization.

Investing in a few resources can take you a long way towards improving time management. There are a number of excellent books on the subject and even a few at-home study courses. (I'm actually in the process of creating a time management home study course.)

Okay, as I promised I'm going to share with you my time management secrets.

Anytime you can offload things you need to remember from your head onto paper (or your computer), the more you set yourself up for taking action.

Your brain hates stress, and having to remember all the details related to your business and your personal life just weighs you down.

Checklists help you get rid of a lot of this stress by acting like a 'mini-blueprint' you can easily follow anytime you need it, without the worry that you're forgetting something important.

For any process or sequence of actions you perform on a regular basis, take a little time to create a checklist for it and use it as needed. It may take a little time to create initially, but it will save you gobs of time and energy in the long-run.

So, here's my 3 step time management system that allows me to get things done:

• Write down all the things you want to get done for the day. I actually try to do this the day before. Write down everything from daily tasks to mundane to do's or planning your next project to answering your email and balancing your checkbook. You get the idea.
• Assign a specific time to each task or group of tasks. Anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Chunks of 30 minutes or less work best for me. Not to say I don't assign 60 minutes or more to certain tasks because I do.
• Select a task, start a timer (like an egg timer), and focus on nothing but accomplishing that task. This means you don't answer the phone, you don't get up for a drink, you don't log onto Facebook (unless that's part of your marketing mix and on your task list)- none of that. You remain focused on the task-at-hand!

Now that is the manual way of doing it which can slow the process down a bit. What I've done is incorporate a simple, intuitive piece on software called the Action Machine that really makes this time management plan a lot easier to implement.

I use this software every single day (well, maybe not Sundays) and it really does help me to get things done in the most efficient way possible.

To the right you see my screenshot of the software that's loaded with my specific tasks for the day.

It has built in timers, it's preloaded with common tasks, you can add your own tasks easily and it has a report function that is really useful. It has more features than I'll detail here so you should check it out if you're serious about implementing a great time management plan for your business and yourself.

I highly recommend this software developed by Derek Franklin: Action Machine

My hope is that this information has truly helped you in some way.

Feel free to add what tactics you use successfully in your time management system in the comments below.