A get-real guide to time management

Does your cell phone ring during big meetings and everyone turns to glare a t you? Have you overscheduled your morning once again? Are you taking work home-regularly? You're not alone. These days, working people are finding it difficult to ma nage their time. Abernathy advises, "Take a breath. Slow down. Start planni ng, stop reacting, and prepare to get a grip on your time." Next, Abernathy provides some practical tips on how get more done at work a nd find some balance in your work and personal lives. She talked with sever al experts in time management, including one who tells people how to catego rize their work into "uncontroIlable"-that which they have no control over- and I, the areas that can impede productivity over which they do have contr ol. Another expert says that successful time management works best when it's mo deled by top managers, noting that they often lack organizing skills. Anoth er time guru advises that time management is personal, saying that what wor ks for one person may not work for others. One expert says the key to effective time management is focusing on the thi ngs that really make a difference at work, suggesting that people identify priorities as A through D, with A being the most important. Successful habi ts proponent Stephen Covey agrees with that approach. In his book, First Th ings First, he says that most successful people spend 65 to XO percent of t heir time on activities that are "important but not urgent." That suggests that it's not the best use of time to run around fighting fires-just as we suspected. The article includes specific tips, interesting facts, quotes regarding tim e, and a list of information resources.