I have to say that I found last night's episode of America's Next Top Model to be a particularly educational one. And not just because the yummy Nigel Barker was the photographer this week. (Oh, did I just write that? That was my inner pen...)



It was their go-see day, when each model had to "go see" a number of designers in order to get booked for modelling jobs. They were given the list of designers, their locations and a time that they had to return to their starting-off point.

Oh, did I mention that they were in Shanghai? LOL

Still, it was a colourful reminder of how important time management is in everything we do. Three of the five girls failed to return on time and were disqualified from winning the challenge. One of the gals spent so much time wandering around the streets like Lindsay Lohan on a Friday night gone wrong, she only made it to one appointment.

We're all given the same number of hours in a day; how we make use of them is what will make us or break us.

Several successful writers have said that the key to being so prolific is sitting down and writing every day for a least a few hours.

Huh, imagine that. I must admit that lately I've been thinking about writing for a least a few hours every day. But that's not what gets words on the page.

One trick that worked for me (until I abandoned it because I'm a freak of nature) was only checking my email three or four times a day. Can you imagine? Still, I found it enabled me to stick to my goals/project/word count and not be distracted by all those emails -- or the fact that I had no new emails. Sob!

I was once asked by a prospective client what my business hours were. It made me stop and think about when I worked on all of the projects on my plate: 24/7. That's when I realized that, without downtime, I was heading straight for a total meltdown.

I told the client my hours were 9-5, Monday to Friday. Unless they wanted to pay my overtime rate of five gazillion dollars. I'm sure they'll be getting back to me soon. ;)

So what do you do to manage time better?

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