New Year's resolution time is here--that annual ritual most studies (and cynics) say is destined for failure within two to three weeks. But does that mean don,t bother? Our intentions are noble--the start of each year, (and each season) provides an opportunity for a new beginning.

As an organizing and productivity expert, I've noticed one main distinction between people who succeed in transformation and those who get derailed boils down to a single behavior: Reflection.

How effective is your To-Do list? 

In my work as a time management coach, close to 90% of my clients are unhappy with their to-do list system.  There are often many flaws in their approach, but the most common mistake I see is treating a to-do list as an endless inventory of everything in one's mind, without a practical plan for how to get things done. 

To combat the "junk box" effect of a Master to-do list, I recommend creating what I call an "intelligent" to-do list.........

Everyone has time management challenges, and they can vary based on occupation and individual working styles. We know how committed our Armed Forces are to be serving our country, but few of us realize what daily life is really like on duty. I recently had an opportunity to hear from a woman in the military, who was kind enough to share the time management challenges she experiences while serving in Iraq.*

Once the world gets quiet, does your mind wake up? Do you start ticking through your to-do list the minute your head hits the pillow? A churning mind can’t sleep; and a mind without sleep doesn’t function.  Sleep deprivation is miserable--it steals energy and productivity from the next day — so you don’t enjoy your waking hours either, and the cycle starts all over again.

So, how can you reclaim the pleasure of a good night's sleep?  First, I want to ask you a question: Do you think of sleep as the end of one day or the beginning of the next? I find that......

We live in a fast-paced world filled with infinite possibilities and opportunities. Like

kids in a candy shop, we can easily feel overwhelmed choices on where we spend our time. What’s most important? How do we find time to get things done? How much can we handle? It is tempting to shove more in our day than is humanly possible, and discouraged at the end of the day when we barely got past the second item on our to-do list.    In an overstuffed schedule, we feel out of balance—where one area of our lives monopolizes our time at the expense of other more important things.

Throughout my 20 years as a time management coach , I’ve found that there are certain key skills that make the difference between a day that feels in balance vs. out of balance....

In these times of extraordinary economic uncertainty,  most people I talk to are having a lot of trouble focusing.  Worry and anxiety seem to flood the brain with fear adrenaline—making it hard to concentrate, remember anything, put two sentences together, feel effective.  So what do you do about it? First of all, go easy on yourself—taking some comfort in the fact that everyone is in the same boat. Then, get back to basics..........