Chapter One

Introduction: How Busy Are You?

I think it is important that the question of managing time be addressed in a realistic manner. The reality is that everyone feels pressed for time and it is not going to change as we become more technologically advanced and everything we do can be done in an instant by allegedly “working smarter, not harder.”

“I want to know, how do I find more time without cutting my standard of living?”
–Mona, 32

Do you find yourself rushing from one activity to the next, from the time you wake up in the morning until you go to sleep at night? Has your to-do list grown from just a list in your day planner to scraps of paper and Post-its scattered all over your office and home? Is your social life disappearing because you don’t have time for friends and fun? And do you feel that lately life has become the proverbial rat race–where you are constantly moving forward at an ever-more-frantic pace, yet experiencing very little of the joys and rewards life has to offer?

If you are like most people, you’re probably running nearly all the time. I’ve been there, as have many of my clients over the years. No doubt you’d like for your schedule to be different, or have even found yourself thinking, “I really need to make a change.” When “busyness” becomes all-consuming, many of us know deep down that something’s got to give–but we’re too busy to figure out how or what that change should be!

I believe that your path has crossed mine and that you’ve picked up this book for a reason: so that you can finally take control of your schedule, cre