One of the services I offer is personal executive time coaching. This personal coaching involves my following an executive around for most of a day, observing and taking notes. Then, I provide exact (and sometimes brutal) feedback on where that executive is losing time and what to do about that. This means no canned "one size fits all," but a laser-tuned solution.

I also follow up with an interview that goes beyond the workday we experienced. Time management starts from the moment you get up--many people just start their day behind and get more so as it goes on.

This service isn't cheap. But, an executive who blows a performance appraisal due to a preventable time management issue finds my fee a bargain in hindsight. One who gets a handle on his or her time can easily make that money back in a salary increase, due to the improvement in attitude and performance that others see on the job.

The reason I am telling you all of this is to make the point that there is no single system of time management that works for everyone. Cookie cutter formulas, paint by numbers, copycat "best practices" and rigid adherence to someone else's system--all of these lead you down the same road of frustration and failure. That's because we are individuals. What works for another person may not work for you, though you can probably apply the principle behind what works. An example is the ubiquitous Day Planner. These work great for many people, but for many others these systems are worse than useless. However, the principle of planning blocks of time will work for just about everyone.

You have to follow some key concepts (e.g., setting goals, eliminating waste, focusing, etc.), but you must consciously develop your own time management strategies and religiously maintain your system.

This is much easier than many people seem to think. It just takes some conscious effort to understand and apply one principle at a time--consistently and on a continual basis. Make a constant effort at managing your time, and you'll be surprised at how much more you get done than someone who makes occasional effort.