Keep It Simple Sweetie

In 2003, Mary Kay Ash (founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics) was honored as the “Greatest Female Entrepreneur in American History. When Mary Kay talked, people usually listened. Her most effective time management advice to business women was: Keep It Simple Sweetie!! This motto can carry any woman through any task or goal in life.

Here are quick ways to manage your time:

1. Every night, list the six most important things to do the next day. List only six so you won’t feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Anyone can accomplish six things in one day. As you finish tasks, cross them off the list. If something doesn’t get done, put it on your next day’s list.

2. Create more time by getting up earlier. As women, we ALL have time management issues, because our jobs don’t start and stop at our careers. If you get up 2½ hours early, you will accomplish so much more. Get a good night’s sleep and avoid TV or anything else that will keep you up late.

3. Don’t waste dollar time on penny jobs. Paying for housecleaning is only a waste of money if you’re not making valuable use of the time you’ve saved.

4. Multi-task. Listen to motivational CDs while driving or applying makeup. If you are waiting at a doctor’s office, bring work to do until the doctor can see you.

5. Just say ‘NO.’ Help out when you can. But, there aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all. You can’t manage your time if you give it to everyone who asks for it.

6. Program yourself to succeed. Having something you love to do, someone you love, and something to look forward to, are the foundation of true happiness. To achieve this success, have something new on the horizon to work on. Have short- and long-range goals. Don’t worry if your long-range goals seem impossible to attain. You can reach any goal if you keep moving toward it one step at a time.”