“The key is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

What do you care about most in your life? Whatever it may be, make sure you are making it a priority.

(You could say everything is a priority. But, if that were the case, nothing would be a priority.)

RANK YOUR PRIORITIES. When your priorities are set in ranking order, it becomes very simple (not necessarily easy) to make definitive decisions. It’s those daily decisions that will ultimately shape your life.

SCHEDULE. Schedule time on your calendar for your priorities, whether those are spending time with your spouse, engaging in your hobby or getting adequate sleep. Block out that time and give it the same priority you would give to an important work meeting.

REPLACE. Make a point to replace time spent on activities that do not add much value to your life, like using social media with time spent on activities that do, like date night or hobbies.

COMBINE. Combine activities that you have to do with those that are a priority to you. For example, make activities like commuting and performing chores a time for growth by listening to podcasts at the same time.

ELIMINATE. Consider how you can eliminate time spent on activities that do not add value to your life – for example, by hiring someone to take on a chore for you (exchanging money for time) or automating a task you typically do manually.

Sometimes, it isn’t a time issue. It just might be a priority issue.