By Justin Lukasavige

Often times I meet with people who claim they are too busy to maintain their finances, search for a better career or even clean their own home. While I agree that paying a cleaning service $60 per month is a great idea if you could better use that time with family or make more money during that hour, you really do need to carve out the time to take charge of your life.

Take balancing your checkbook for example. In its simplest form, balancing a checkbook consumes minutes each day. If you use Quicken or Money it may take even less. The problem usually lies in the amount of time required to initially set up any system. So how do you find the time?

That just happens to be an easy answer; you don’t find the time. You cannot make the time either. We all have the exact same 168 hours available each week. Making more time is impossible. The answer to this question lies in prioritizing.

Is it more important to watch a movie or TV when you come home from work, or to take a walk with your family or even develop your household budget for the first time? What about getting out of the rut you have been in for the past seven years and find a career you are passionate about? It all comes down to prioritizing.

Make a list of everything you want to do during your week. Make sure to include not only work on your finances, resume, job searches, cleaning, working, eating and driving, but also family time, exercise and personal development.

At the top of the list put the most important thing in your life and begin to work backwards. No time left at the end of the day for TV? You either have to reprioritize and put TV higher (hopefully not at the cost of something more important) or you don’t get to watch TV.

It has literally been months since I have seen even thirty seconds worth of TV. I cannot tell you what is happening on the latest reality TV show, but I can tell you that I am passionate about what I do for a living. I also know exactly where every dollar of my family’s income goes. Set your priorities straight and the rest will follow.

Justin Lukasavige is a Life Coach, and owner of Lukas Coaching. You can view more free articles, download free books, and become a member of the Reader’s Group at no cost by visiting http://www.lukascoaching.com Career & Life Coaching

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For more information and support for creating more time for yourself and what’s important to you, visit http://www.GalileoLS.com/consult.html for a free coaching consultation.

By Steven Milbrandt

More Time is a paradox. Time is a constant. You cannot make more of it because it just is. Substituting what you do with your time is possible and advised because children grow and priorities change. One significant distinction is to prioritize time spend as a family. How this can be accomplished because of the “busy” schedules of modern life is often the question. The answer is not complicated, but will require lifestyle shifts and a person must be committed to make these changes and stick to them.

The fix it now mentality, a sort of “family night in a box” approach – just add water, let stand for thirty minutes, stir and serve (to borrow a cooking metaphor) is perhaps too simplistic, but as with cooking, if you make the right changes and follow a prescribed series of steps, you will see the desired results. More time with family and better, more quality time will be the results. “Family night in a box” is the possible and you can find time where you thought none existed.

First, family time can be built around one specific event among family members. For example, surfing has been used as a means to bring board enthusiasts together. It is through surfing that, because surfing is a male dominated sport, all involved have found a way to do something positive while spending time with their dads in particular. Many surfers say their fathers have either introduced them to the sport or have been a huge influence by being heavily involved. The first point here underscores a fundamental truth about time spent together as a family. It must be a specific time that you set aside to spend with your spouse and children. Regular Family Time helps us to remember that we are part of a special family unit; that we are loyal to each other, that we love and support each other; and that we want to celebrate each others birthdays and special events together.

However, it must also be remembered that everyone is an individual and we all have our own ways of doing things, goals and aspirations. Not only that but everyone you meet in your life you give a gift to. You either leave them wanting to be more like you or you show them a person they never want to be. Therefore treat everyone as the individual they are and respect these differences while endeavouring to develop and maintain a cohesive family time that is meaningful to all involved.

To better understand the apparent lack of family time today, it is important to consider some underlying reasons for this. Social, economic and technological change has altered the way in which families spend time together. Important changes include increases in maternal employment, part-time employment and the number of people living alone. The changes during this period have lead to a number of modifications of the traditional structure and nature of marriage. Marriage is still regarded as an important institution in certain parts of the world such as Vietnamese society. There, despite the influences of westernisation and western ideas few couples in Vietnam cohabitant before marriage. There are arguments on both sides of that debate, and that is beyond the scope of this article. It is merely pointed out that certain cultures have not yet adopted the free spirit attitudes typical of Europe and, to a lesser degree, North America. It is this have now, do quickly, and pack every possible thing into each hour and minute that has lead people to feel extreme stress and anxiety.

The speed at which most of the world progresses is at best troublesome and at worst alarming. Some have called this diminishing social capital. Social capital can be understood quite simply as networks of social relations characterized by norms of trust and reciprocity. The essence of social capital is quality social relations. So the question by extension than is how to build more social capital into our relationships with those closest to us – in short, the family unit?

Fortunately, this downward societal trend can be reversed, but it takes understanding and effort. “Family night in a box” as I have been calling it, begins with recognition that such a time is needed and entirely essential to both preserve and maintain the family structure in whatever form it takes. Family today does not necessarily mean a mother, father, 2.2 children and a pet. It might mean single mothers with five children struggling to make the bi-weekly cheque stretch far enough so as many possible needs are met. It might be a widower with two young boys or perhaps two people living together outside of marriage that are helping and leaning from each other along the way.

Family time must be nurtured regardless of what the family unit may look like. Here are some important things to consider with respect to how this can be accomplished. The ideas below, it should be pointed out, are not listed in order of importance. They are offered as a general guide. Take from these ideas what works for you and leave the rest. If you do some of these things you will at least be on your way to the “family night in a box” solution that was spoken about earlier. Here are some suggestions for developing a family time where perhaps none exists, or strengthening one that does. Some ideas are:

1. Set aside time each week. If you can, make it the same time from week to week. Children benefit from routine and will anticipate the time

2. Talk with your kids about limiting their activities outside activities to a predefined and reasonable number. By doing this they chose the one or two things they enjoy most, still maintain their independence and autonomy and can also divide time for family activities.

3. As a parent, put limits on your own activities so that you will have more of your own time to devote to your family.

4. Build a snowman. Winter activities are a great way to create a family together time. Memories that last a lifetime are made up of such spur of the moment fun times.

5. Protect your Family Time by eliminating any distractions like the phone, TV, radio, video games, or the computer.

6. Have a candlelight dinner every once in a while as a family. Such an atmosphere is not only calming, but can lead to great discussions and is a different experience from the usual dinner.

7. Make brunch for your bunch every Sunday. Set aide a day to break the regular routine and do things a little different.

8. Find a “Reading Tree” and claim it as your own to sit under with your children to read.

9. Friday night being the end of the workweek is one of the best times to focus on family. Have a games not or a family fun night of some type. Grab some fast food or make a quick healthy snack with vegetables and salad or perhaps crackers, cheese and soup and spend Friday night together.

10. Sledding. What could be more fun than zipping down the hill on a sled? Young kids may need an adult to go with them, but older ones just need a ride to the nearest park. This is another winter activity that you can do together as a family.

If you start to practice some or all of the above activities, “family night in a box”, the quick and simple family time will become you reality. You can do it if you paradoxically “make the time”. Make changes to your schedule and alter your plans. Soon what was a deliberate choice on your part will become a habit and you will never look back. Family time is essential. Make it a priority. Start today.

For more information, please visit the Marketplace section of http://www.learnherenow.com You will find additional articles on this website. Please check out our sister site at http://www.stevenmilbrandt.com Thank you. It is hoped you find this article both helpful and informative.

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For more information and support for creating more time for yourself and what’s important to you, visit http://www.GalileoLS.com/consult.html for a free coaching consultation.

By Peter Murphy

If you procrastinate at home you may suffer some consequences from disgruntled family members who have to carry your share of the workload.

A worst-case scenario is that your procrastination and lack of motivation may carry over to other members of your family, resulting in absolutely nothing being done.

All the disorganization and clutter in your home will most likely result in chaos and disarray to the point you have no clean clothes to wear and can’t find your books or briefcase.

However, all is not lost because you can learn how to overcome procrastination at home by following a few simple suggestions…

1. Make a list of tasks that must be done daily, weekly, monthly and so on. Then think about how each task can be simplified.

For example, the first thing you normally do when you get home is change into comfortable clothing.

You can eliminate one task right here by hanging up your clothes when you take them off instead of waiting until bedtime, when you most likely will throw them over the back of a chair.

2. Once you have made your task list, prioritize each list.

It could go something like this:
(1) talk and listen to your children and/or spouse to learn about their day;
(2) get dinner started (you already know what cook because previously you made menus and shopped for food;
(3) make some time to talk to family members while dinner is cooking;
(4) immediately after dinner clear the table and load the dishwasher instead of waiting;
(5) do other necessary chores such as laundry while helping children with homework. This list is an example only; your list may be entirely different. The important thing is to get it done.

3. Prevention is the key to having less to do around the house. Put mats down around all entrances to prevent dirt from being tracked into the house, thus making vacuuming easier.

Some other preventive measures you can take now to lighten your load and help you overcome procrastination at home are so simple you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of them sooner.

4. Ask family members to break all habits that result in messes, and minimize those that can’t be helped. Become aware of the messes around the house and analyze the reason for them.

You can coat some surfaces with a sealant to keep them looking shiny and new and make cleaning easier.

If you have surfaces that can’t be cleaned such as a wall with flat latex paint, you can repaint with a cleanable paint or cover it with a washable wallpaper. Seal off crevices and cracks that let dust and pests get into your home.

5. Other tips include avoiding high-low carpet patterns and embossed floor tile; it collects dirt and is hard to clean.

Indoor-outdoor carpet also shows every piece of lint or dirt that gets on it (and it really doesn’t add much fashion to your floor anyway).

Elaborately textured ceilings and walls collect dust and cobwebs and should be avoided.

Other elements to avoid include unfinished wood that shows stains, dark colors on floors, furniture and countertops, and large collections that have to be moved around to clean.

With a little forethought and ingenuity, you can teach yourself and family members to simplify your lives and learn how to overcome procrastination at home.

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report that reveals how to crush procrastination and sustain lasting motivation. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: http://www.getmotivatedstaymotivated.com/special.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Murphy

For more information and support for creating more time for yourself and what’s important to you, visit http://www.GalileoLS.com/consult.html for a free coaching consultation.

By Kenneth Darryl Brown

Are you too busy to make money? Perhaps, you might think that is an odd question to ask. However, it is a simple question to answer. Are you moving forward in business or just constantly moving?

Time management can be a critical issue for successful entrepreneurs. Time is a finite resource. There is only twenty-four hours in a day. One can not turn back the clock. To be successful in business, entrepreneurs must become a good time manager. No one can get back an hour, 45 minutes, 30 minutes or one minute and redo it! You can not turn back time!

Recently, during a coaching session, I asked this question to one of my clients. I asked him about his priorities? He responded, “Directing employees and keeping them on track, follow-up on emails and telephone calls, completing projects and generating revenue.”

What constitutes busy work here?

I was surprised. I expected that he would have first said, “Sales, sales and more sales! ”

Instead, generating revenue was his last response! I wondered, if is it his last priority too? Perhaps, it is not a fair question. Many times, it is unintentional. Business owners do not decide to be unproductive with their time.

Sometimes, entrepreneurs are more reactive than proactive. They react to what comes first to their desk!
Read and respond to their emails.