"Getting the Most out of Each Day“I just can’t do one more thing today!” This is a common mantra in my head, and is probably in yours as well. We tend to run through our day and then just screech to a halt at some point (for me it is when I’ve put my two children to bed). If we look back on our day, it often seems as if we really didn’t get much done for all the running we managed to do. What else can we do with our hours to make the most of them and improve our productivity both at work and at home? Some experts have these ideas:  | Get Rid of Your Junk. Stuff junk, time junk and people junk really takes a lot of our time and provides very little in return.
"Stuff junk" includes all of those things around the house that you have to clean, fix and update. Take a look around your kitchen, closet and bathroom and see what really does not get used and donate it to charity, have a garage sale, or offer it on Ebay.
"Time junk" includes distractions (TV, radio, Internet surfing) and things like correctable health problems and information overload. Time wasted watching TV is one of the biggest distractions to productivity in the United States, but waiting at doctor’s offices and trying to process too much news / trivia / information can also sap your energy and leave your day with little accomplished.
"People junk" includes the time spent gossiping and distracting ourselves with conversation that is meant to help us procrastinate.
|  | Get it Done Early. Reduce stress and improve other’s perception of you and your business by getting things done early. Reduce your daily commute by going to work an hour earlier and leaving to come home an hour earlier and miss some of the traffic.
Respond to customer requests for information as soon as you receive them (I often try to take care of them while the customer is on the phone by using the web to get the answers they need.) If the average American spends five years of life waiting for things – what can you do to make those five years more productive or fewer?
Use a mobile computer so you can be making notes or working while waiting in line or for the doctor. I like to take along some of the business magazines I receive and flip through the articles while waiting.
|  | Reduce Your Meetings (unless they are with your spouse or kids). Meetings at work are usually a huge waste of time. Especially with e-mail and group collaboration software and ASP programs, making a bunch of people get in a room together is not usually productive for the time and energy it takes. Some meetings are still needed to focus the team and share direction, but for the most part, information exchange should be handled in other ways.
Meetings with spouses and children, on the other hand, are wonderful things and should be worked into your schedule more often. Sit with your kids on the floor and play with them while talking about what is going on with them. Meet your husband for an ice cream cone and talk about life like you did when you were dating. These are the meetings worth having!
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