A Better Use Of Down Time
Most people's days are so filled to overflowing with responsibilities, that there's is almost no way to get it all done in the hours available. Some things (like work and school) eat up big chunks of your day, and you have no control over when or how they happen. Others can be squeezed in whenever you've got a few free minutes here or there. And where do you tend to have a lot of available time? While you're waiting! You could be sitting in a medical office, stuck in traffic, caught in a long line at the post office or bank, hoping to have your flight start boarding soon, trapped on a train during an hour-long commute, or early for a scheduled meeting. Instead of bitching about wasted time, use those precious minutes to get something done!
- clean out your purse, briefcase, or backpack
- listen to a book on tape or a recording of a seminar you've been wanting to hear
- make a wish list of books to read, movies to see, restaurants to try, etc.
- make a to-do list of things you want and need to get done in the next week
- plan your menu and grocery shopping lists for the week
- read that magazine article or book you haven't had time for
- review and update your calendar
- schedule an appointment you've been putting off
- sort through your incoming mail, separating to-do's from trash
- write a letter to a friend
- make a phone call that you've been procrastinating on
- pay your bills, either online or writing a check to go in the mail
- balance your checkbook
- work on your Christmas gift list
- write and address holiday greeting cards
- work on any sort of report / homework / project with an upcoming deadline
- write in your journal or diary
- meditate
- file your nails (although I probably would discourage a pedicure in public!)
- just relax and enjoy a moment of silence in the middle of a hectic day
See how easy that was? 
One source of the problem could be wardrobe clutter. If the clothes you love are hidden in a sea of outfits you never wear, it's going to slow you down in the morning — and having too many options makes it harder to decide what to wear. So the first step is to trim down to only those items you love, wear all the time, and really enjoy.
It's easy in this country to become a slave to the cosmetics industry. Advertising tries its best to convince us that if we don't have a 16-step skincare routine, spend an hour a day creating the perfect hairstyle, and engage in a weekly full-body home spa treatment, we're unattractive and poorly groomed. Don't buy into the lie! If all you do in the morning is wash your face, put on some moisturizer, and brush your teeth, you will survive just fine — I promise!
Finally, take a look at your AM routine and see where you can plan in advance, so your morning isn't quite so hectic. For example, figuring out what you want to wear the next day and laying out your clothes the night before will help you get ready much faster (especially if you tend to hem and haw, taking forever to decide on an outfit.) Don't forget your shoes, purse, jewelry etc. — the accessories can take as much time as the clothes for some people! Then get all of your “take-with-you” paraphernalia together, including paperwork, car keys, briefcase, umbrella, etc. — whatever you need to take with you to work or school. And if you bring your lunch or a snack from home, pack it the night before, put it in the fridge, and leave yourself a sticky-note on the front door, so you don't forget it. Just the bit of time you invest in advance will help you experience less stress the next day.
Contrary to popular belief children were not put on this planet to perpetuate chaos — hell-bent on undoing your housework and leaving piles of clutter trailing behind them. Kids actually thrive on order, but it's not something they can easily maintain until you teach them how — and children have short attention spans, so you can't expect a 6-year-old to stay focused as long as an adult might. You'll get a better response (and your children will experience a greater sense of achievement) if you ask your kids to complete just one small task at a time — something concrete and specific. With the right action plan, there will be no misunderstanding about what you expect from your offspring, and your kids will soon be picking up after themselves without you even asking! Have your kids:
As much as we love our keepsakes and mementos, any collection can become overwhelming if it isn't kept in check. One of my clients actually considered building on an extra room to house dozens of antique cups — until she realized it was a choice between the renovation and her son's college tuition! Another client spent hundreds of dollars a month on storage units, because she couldn't bear to part with any of her children's clothes or toys. When your collection takes over your life, it's time to seriously re-evaluate your priorities! The trick is to establish a set of rules for sorting, storing, purging and protecting your mementos. It's important that you take care of your keepsakes — after all, your treasured memories deserve some respect!
Collecting, like everything in life, should be about quality, not just quantity. Determining in advance how many of something you are “allowed” to keepwill help you maintain a sense of balance with your collection. You maydecide to establish a physical limit for your belongings — you willkeep no more than 10 ceramic frogs (numerical limit), you won't buyany more shoes than will fit on this one shelf (spatial limit), etc. Or youmight function better with an in/out ratio — gettingrid of one magazine every time you bring a new one home. Either way,you are creating a very specific method for keeping your collection atan acceptable size, and you'll feel less pressure to keep constantly expanding. You never need worry about losing control again!
Even people who don't consider themselves “collectors” usually have a huge pile of family photos that they have inherited or accumulated over the years (and possibly across several generations). Going through years of backlogged pictures and putting them in order can either be a nightmare or a fun trip down memory lane — depending on how you approach it. Whether you plan to scan your pics into the computer and store them digitally, or just get everything stored neatly in boxes or albums, you want to make sure that you follow a few basic rules for organizing photographs.
Cleaning out is often exhausting work — especially for those who haven't done it in a while. It's easy to walk into a room filled with clutter and become completely overloaded by the task at hand. You try to empty the whole space at once, don't even come close to finishing it all, and end up feeling like a failure — will you ever be able to see the floor again? Rather than overdoing it (and subsequently paralyzing yourself with frustration and despair), why not set yourself up for success — by tackling just one small pile at a time? If you simply make use of those odd free moments (say, two or three times a day, every day for a week) — you will make a bigger dent in the mess than if you devoted your entire Saturday to sifting and sorting and cleaning out!