EVER feel like your to-do lists are getting longer and longer? Between balancing work life, home life and personal relationships, sometimes 24 hours in a day can go by in a heartbeat. If you find yourself not having enough time for self-care, feeling increasingly stressed at your job, or overwhelmed no matter what you do, this could be a good opportunity to learn some new time management hacks to get you back on track. Set a morning routine. For Marie Kondo, Netflix star and best-selling author of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,” starting the morning with “good energy” is important for productivity. According to Kondo, her morning ritual involves opening up the windows, burning incense, and saying a prayer — but your routine should be whatever feels easy and right for you. Limit your screen time. “If you mindfully go on Twitter with a glass of wine and catch up with friends, that’s good, but you interrupt your focus when checking your phone during those in-between moments,” says organizing consultant Julie Morgenstern. To begin, avoid your devices during the first and last hour of each day. Use your phone’s grayscale mode. If you need a little help avoiding temptation to check all those entertaining social media apps, this option — available on most smartphones — turns your screen black and white, reducing stimulation. Set your intention before each activity. Morgenstern advises you to be mindful before switching tasks. After putting the kids to sleep, for example, take a minute to decide how you’d like to connect with your partner, be it by talking about the day or watching a movie. At work, choose to really enjoy a lunch break or afternoon tea. This will recharge your mind and increase your effectiveness before the next transition. Stick to one master calendar. Morgenstern recommends merging all of your tasks and appointments into one calendar or scheduling system that makes you comfortable. “A to-do that is not integrated into a schedule rarely gets done,” she says. Outline your days in advance. Try taking stock of next week’s schedule every Friday afternoon in order to delegate tasks, move unnecessary meetings, and leave room for anything time sensitive. Be prepared to tackle an emergency or last-minute responsibility on the weekend. Try an organization app. If the calendar method hasn’t been helping you achieve peak productivity, it might be time to download an organization app. According to executives and productivity coaches, these apps will help with staying focused and saving time. Use the five-sentence email rule. When you are in email mode, whittling down your email responses to five sentences or less will help you succinctly deliver the thoughts you’re trying to convey — and cut the time spent writing them. To prevent co-workers or friends from thinking your responses are rude, Chris Bailey, author of “Hyper Focus,” recommends letting people know you’re doing this by adding a line in your email signature. Schedule daily breaks. “If you don’t give your brain a break, you may end up in an Internet rabbit hole instead of working,” says “Off The Clock” author and time management speaker Laura Vanderkam, who suggests incorporating short breaks into your day. Go for a walk or grab coffee with a colleague. Take advantage of the weekend. Decide whether you’d like to conquer demands in the mornings, afternoons, or evenings. Morgenstern says this can help you juggle your relationship with family, friends and yourself, while also weaving in moments for pesky chores and overdue professional tasks. Be sure to also outline time to do absolutely nothing. Make time to reconnect. It’s called quality time for a reason. To be fully present with your loved ones, Morgenstern suggests relying on daily “reconnection points” like dinnertime. She says it’s not about spending more time with the people you care about, but rather changing the way in which you spend time together..(SD-Agencies) | 