Contributed by Irene Watson

It’s hard to think of many things more valuable to us than our time. Advances in technology seem to make more expected from us. We are bombarded with requests by phone, email, pagers, voicemails, and instant and text messaging.

Constantly working at a hectic pace can make us frazzled, exhausted, and cranky. Sometimes we feel we have so much to do that we can’t stop to take a break. We neglect our health, our meals, our exercise, our family and friends. We may work long hours, telling ourselves if we just answer that one last email, it will be one less thing to do tomorrow. It may also mean five minutes less sleep, a missed opportunity to enjoy ourselves or to call a friend.

We need to take back control of our lives, not let our lives take control of us. That doesn’t mean we avoid doing what has to be done, but it means we set boundaries with our time and we give ourselves breaks while still providing reasonable responses to tasks.

A five-minute break can often change our perspective from being overwhelmed to being productive. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply, take a quick walk, or a little catnap. That five minutes you “waste” will actually restore your energy and make you more productive. A break is a time investment that allows you to take back control.

We can manage our time better by scheduling our tasks. For example, only checking our email once or twice a day at certain times such as from 10-11 and 3-4. We will be more productive if we don’t constantly respond to every email that comes in, allowing it to interrupt us from tasks that demand more attention.

Another good strategy may be not to respond to every email immediately. Always providing a 24-hour response rather than a one-hour response is a reasonable boundary. You may also find that not responding immediately but waiting a few hours will allow you to think out your response more fully and could ultimately improve your relationship with the person. Similar ways to manage appointments, meetings and other tasks can be found to make your day run smoothly and allow you to perform at your best.

Remember to schedule in fun time as well, whether it’s a vacation, or just half an hour to watch TV. We don’t have to be Superman or Wonder Woman to be productive. Time is a blessing and we can make the best use of it by including what’s important to us.

Irene Watson, MA, is author of The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference, and co-editor of The Story that Must Be Told: True Tales of Transformation, and Authors Access: 30 Success Secrets for Authors and Publishers. She is a workshop leader, managing editor of Reader Views, and president of a non-profit Higher Power Foundation. Irene lives next to Barton Creek in Austin, TX, with her husband Robert.