Title: 
Slaying Your Time-Vampires

Word Count:
613

Summary:
Managing your time is the key to a stress-free life.


Keywords:
stress and anxiety


Article Body:
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” 
                                                                            - Carl Sandburg 

Time is precious. Time can easily pass us by. The problem is, time, if not managed can cause stress and anxiety. If you spend a greater percentage of your life harassed rather that being cool and collected, you're the one who's always gonna lose out. When there are projects to be done and deadlines can be so numerous and overwhelming --- tension is always just a step behind.  

The key is to apply the principles of time management so that we can get rid of things that suck the life out of you.   To get rid of stress and anxiety, try following these tips to slay your time vampires:

l	Plan Your Day - One of the quickest way to waste the whole day is by waking up in the morning and you don't even have any kind of plan at all. You simply don't know what your priorities are. Many of us are sidelined by an unimportant emails, phone and mobile calls, telemarketers, noneducational T.V shows or endless searches in the Internet or abusing your chat program to people you don't know.  Set aside some time to work out what's really important  and stopped procrastinating. Use one planner to keep track of all your appointments. Write a to-do-list everyday. Based on the priorities you've identified, start with the most difficult jobs first. Start with those items or projects that really needs to be completed, label it as urgent or it can wait a little. Don't fill your day full of activities. Plan your time for family, recreation, spiritual and social activities.

l	Simplify - Streamline your to-do-list. For do some multi-tasking jobs to squeeze more time for example, paying your bills using a online banking facility in your computer. Stop being a slave to communication tools like your home phone, fax machine, cellular phone, e-mail and instant messaging software. Cut back on your television time. Start getting rid of your clutter. You'll be amaze how time you can save by throwing junk mail and canceling “cable” subscription---face it...there are T.V channels you rarely watch anyway.

l	Use Tools - Take advantage of your calendar, Filofax, PDA that will aid you in tracking your phone numbers, important reminders, and appointments. You'll save space in your bag by having all your data in one place or one gadget. File your documents  in a expandable folder. Create file folders like Personal files,invoices to pay. Keep your business cards in a card holder.

l	Use online websites to save you more time.
A List of Time Wasters

	You keep playing the latest PC games or using the new chat program and before you know it---time is gone. So what are the things that eat up your time? Check the following time wasters and know what your weaknesses are...

1.	Instant Messenger
2.	Forwarding jokes and what-have-you to your friends and family
3.	Joining too many social networking sites, egroups and chatrooms
4.	Gossiping during coffee break
5.	Too much paperwork
6.	Not saying the word “no”
7.	Computer games/online games
8.	Crossword puzzles
9.	Excessive T.V viewing
10.	Spending a long time talking over the phone

	It just takes a little discipline. Time is a commodity and once it is gone, you can never have it back. Don't put-off important tasks for the last minute, and you'll feel more in control of your life. Don't delay, set deadlines for yourself and best of all maintain also a high standard of getting things done on time.