Do you truly make your life your priority, or do other things and situations get in the way? It’s easy to be distracted and pulled in so many different directions, that it starts to hurt.

When business priorities change daily, compounded with the stress of work and responsibilities at home, our own life often takes a back seat, as we allow these things to become the driver of our life.

Consequently, the things we don’t want begin to control our day, as our personal goals, priorities and values suffer. Then we wonder why we’re always tired and our quality of life feels imbalanced, as we continually react and recover from this toxic routine.

Since we can’t manage or control time, the only thing we can manage is our-self and our priorities. That is, mastering self-management and priority-management over time-management.

Here are eight indisputable self management hacks to take control of your life so you can design it around your vision, not everyone else’s.

1-Put A Value on Your Time.
Is the activity you’re engaged in aligned with your goals, priorities and how much your time is worth? Remember the 3D’s. Do it, delegate it, or dump it.

2-Build Extra Time for Each Task, Project, And Activity.
Instead of thinking what you can get done in the best-case scenario, think about the additional time it may take in the worst-case scenario (traffic, customer response time, proposals, emails) and use that as your realistic gauge. Choose to live with intention, not reaction.

3-Plan For the Unplanned.
Create blocks of time in your calendar for what you can’t see coming but will. Think of the things you deal with each day. A request, client issue, team challenge, personal issues, etc. How much time do these ‘externalities’ eat up your day? Now, block that time in your calendar. You have less time in the day to plan than you think.

4-Treat Everything Like an Appointment.
If you don’t have the appointment, you don’t have the commitment. Outside of scheduled meetings, this includes scheduling time for self-care, exercise, date night, emails, admin time, time with family, hobbies. If it takes up time, schedule it. Otherwise, your calendar will lie to you. Instead, empower it to hold you accountable.

5-Self-Care Is Non-Negotiable.
The first thing people drop from their routine is eating healthy, time for themselves and exercise. If you don’t have self-care scheduled, it’s the first thing you’ll sacrifice. Besides, you can’t take care of others unless you take care of yourself.

6-Set Strong Boundaries.
Set strong boundaries to protect your time and your life. A boundary is basically a, “No.” Setting clear expectations around how you like to be treated, communicated to, managed, work hours, commitments, requests, response time, availability. If you don’t set them, other people will set them for you and violate your standards and priorities, making ‘life balance’ impossible.

7-Be Present.
How good are you at living in the moment vs. the past or future? Since we have targets and goals to achieve, every company is result-driven. This seeps into our DNA, causing us to focus on and live in the future at the sacrifice of the present. Then we miss out on the daily miracles, perfect friends and family moments, truly “being there” with our kids and the blessings around us. Instead of always focusing on the goal and what’s next, focus on the present and what’s now. That’s where life happens.

8-Develop a Morning Routine.
While developing a comprehensive daily routine is imperative to keep your goals, priorities and life in check and scheduled, how you start your mornings sets the tone for your day. Waking up, already thinking about your overwhelming day and what needs to be done tomorrow, forces you into the fear-based, result-driven, reaction mode, making it impossible to be present, live in the moment, and focus on your blessings, what’s most important to you, your values, goals and priorities.

Develop not only a daily, but a morning routine to maintain your mental and physical health, motivation and happiness. Reading, meditation, journaling, walking the dog, getting the kids ready for school, time with your significant other.

Either you design your day and your life, or everything and everyone else will do it for you. Be intentional so you begin the morning feeling grateful, energized and ready to make it a great day. That’s why if you want a great life, then schedule one!

Create your best life. Get my book, Own Your Day, here on Amazon!