Americans lead busy lives. It seems they’re always saying, “There aren’t enough hours in the day!” They get stressed out trying to get it all done. Time is one commodity for which you can’t get a refund. Time management can become very important in a person’s life, especially if you feel you don’t have enough time to accomplish things.

One of the most important aspects of time management is learning to say no. Do not over extend yourself and pick up projects or duties that immediately add stress to your life. You will know in your gut whether it’s a responsibility that you should accept. Listen to your intuition.

One of the first things to examine is how you spend your time. Keep a log and get a clear picture of exactly how you are spending your time. The more accurate the log, the more accurate your formula will be.

The 10/70/20 formula is a popular time management tool. This formula requires you to divide your time into Past, Present and Future. The idea is to spend 10 percent of your time dealing with past duties such as paying bills or finishing a project. The present should take up the most time (70 percent) doing things like working or researching online courses at eLearners.com. Twenty percent is spent on future duties. Future duties would include something like preparing an agenda for a meeting next week.

You can even tweak the numbers for this formula depending on how you log your time. You can change it up and use 20/60/20 if that fits your lifestyle. The important thing is to look at your log and manage your time in a way that fits your needs.