While personal productivity can seem daunting, making small changes every week to your routine can drive significant results, reducing your total working time and making it more efficient and best of all, enjoyable. Planning your day in advance will reduce not only stress but also prevent procrastination.

10 Time Management Tips to Manage Your Busy Life

1. Plan your day
2. Get enough sleep
3. Take care of your health
4. Don't overcommit to people or events
5. Limit your "shoulds"
6. Focus on one task at a time
7. Track what you do
8. Keep track of your progress
9. Make the most of your commute time 
10. Sleep more efficiently by breaking it into chunks 

Plan your day

Instead of just grabbing what you need to work with each morning, think about how you would spend the day. Do you really need your laptop and all your apps to do your job? What about taking a few minutes to plan out your week for the first thing you will be doing and then get going. When you have everything organized for the week ahead, you can't spend more time feeling you didn't get anything done. Read something For many, being creative can be a source of stress, but creating anything outside of work can help alleviate that stress and leave you feeling refreshed and with a creative outlet. Just by reading or writing, you have the chance to escape into a different world where anything is possible. Plan a time each day to read or journal your feelings.

Get enough sleep

Getting a good night's rest keeps the brain operating at its optimum efficiency, making you more alert and productive. As such, it is important to make sure you get the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Find the right work environment Not only does a comfortable and calm office environment bring you more work satisfaction, but it will also help you remain focused. An open desk layout, with comfortable furniture and plenty of natural light, will ensure a healthy amount of productivity. Give yourself enough time for breaks Not only will these brief breaks give you a chance to get refreshed and replenish your energy, they will also help you avoid overloading your system.

Take care of your health

The hardest thing about leading a busy life is to keep your health in check. Instead of popping a multi-vitamin pill, take good care of yourself and get some rest. Getting plenty of exercise is essential for your overall well-being and to keep your mind alert. Getting plenty of sleep at night and avoiding too much stress during the day can really make a huge difference in your energy levels. And don't forget to rest every once in a while. Most of us only get about six or seven hours a night and we must get at least eight to be truly rested. Eat healthy When it comes to your health, no matter how busy you are, it's important to eat the right food. One reason to eat healthy is that it helps to reduce stress.

Don't overcommit to people or events

Ask yourself if you really want to commit to a project. Is there someone you really need to spend more time with? Maybe you have a party or some other social event you need to attend. You may want to back out of this for the time being and see how things go. If you still feel the pull to attend the event, or if you procrastinate anyway, then you need to decide if you are going to stay and complete the task at hand or avoid your commitment and let it go. Work smarter, not harder Avoid multitasking. Your brain is wired to focus on a single task at a time, so whenever you attempt to multitask, you are left without any mental capacity to focus on other tasks.

Limit your "shoulds"

“I should write an article today." "I should clean the fridge." "I should talk to a friend today." Many of us have an underlying stress response that comes from the expectations we place on ourselves. We assume that we must always be doing, whether it is by playing a certain game, watching television, or being in a certain place at a certain time. This response to potential time constraints drives us to inefficient habits that result in a greater feeling of "should." For example, when you're hungry, you automatically think about what you should have for lunch. But the instant you eat, you realize that you want to play with your children or just take a moment to breathe in your own mind and breath out.

Focus on one task at a time

One of the biggest productivity mistakes you can make is multitasking. By trying to do several things at once, you’re actually trying to get more done in less time, but the bigger a task is, the more time it will take. Switching tasks can take up a huge chunk of your time and waste the very little you were able to achieve. Instead, work on one task at a time and then move on. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done. Set and reset alarms If you’re frequently late to work because of oversleeping, set and cancel alarms that prevent you from missing meetings and trainings, due to the mistaken belief that you can just stay in bed a little longer and “catch up” on sleep.

Track what you do

First, make a habit of tracking what you do. A 2015 research conducted at the Stanford Graduate School of Business discovered that when people know how much they do, it allows them to become more efficient in their work. Knowing how much time you spend working on projects can help you tackle goals on the go, so it's highly recommended to use a task-management app or calendar, which will also help you visualize your day's tasks. Aim for a working space you enjoy When your workspace is enjoyable, you'll find it easier to come into work and leave work. It's a simple rule of thumb, but it can impact your performance and your output. Try out a new mug to look forward to in the morning, or a daily craft project to get your hands messy and inspire creativity. Don't want to work for long?

Keep track of your progress

Regularly assess your progress. You might not be getting quite the results that you had hoped for and this could be a signal that you need to look in a different area. When your business is getting busier, tracking your progress could be a great way to find out how you are doing and how you can make your work environment better. Use technology to save time Work through your emails faster. Set up reminders to send reminders before a deadline. Push notifications can save your bacon by alerting you of emails that need to be replied to and emails that need to be read. TimeZoo is a great resource to help you keep track of the time you spend at work. There's even a browser add-on that uses time tracking technology and helps you to find shortcuts.

Make the most of your commute time

Carpooling, biking or walking into work is a great way to not only save time and money, but to get some exercise in as well. Leave extra time for loading the car up, loading kids in and taking the kids off to daycare. Use your mornings to rest and refresh your mind, perhaps with a yoga class, reading or listening to a favorite audio book or podcast. Then take a positive, "encouraging," yet realistic view of your day ahead. Change your morning routine Once your morning routine has been successfully transformed, and you've used your new pattern to your advantage, add on a bit of time to allow for traffic. If you're driving to work, allow yourself 15-20 extra minutes for morning rush hour.

Sleep more efficiently by breaking it into chunks

Instead of taking an hour to shower, get yourself up early and dedicate a half an hour to showering. How many of us do that? If you are on the night shift at work and you are often required to get up in the middle of the night, sleep a few more minutes until the sun comes up. By committing to do one small thing each day, you have an immediate result in your overall life. Omit difficult tasks from your daily routine When your schedule is already full, it can be hard to decide what activities to let go of. You will be able to reduce the number of tasks you are going to do each day if you simply do not schedule them. As you make the decisions each day, you can let go of activities that are not vital to your wellbeing.