I've got a confession to make - when it comes to time management, for a long time I wasn't able to see the forest for the trees. I slowly came to realize that I was wearing blinders. What on earth am I talking about, and what do 'blinders' have to do with time management?

As you probably know, blinders are the goggles that horses wear that stop them from seeing to the side. It forces them to only see straight ahead, and ignore anything that may attract or startle them. Unfortunately, many people have blinders of their own (although they may not realize it). Often called "the way we've always done things", these personal blinders can make us overlook or ignore the bigger picture, and miss opportunities for success or efficiency.

How does this relate to time management? One of the most basic things in time management is to make a list of tasks you need to do, and to prioritize them in some way. It's probably the most common part of time management that people know, and it is extremely powerful. But often we get so caught up in figuring out what we have to do (especially if we are pressed for time) that we don't step back and look at the big picture. We forget to ask ourselves two key questions about each task we write down:

• Do I really need to do this?
• Is there a better way I can do this?

Take a simple example of running some errands in the city - perhaps taking something in to a dry cleaner, meeting a friend for lunch, and buying a gift for someone. If you have a preferred shop for each of these tasks, you may find they are spread out all over the city. You will have to waste a lot of time travelling (whether driving, taking a cab or using public transport) just to get things done,

A better solution would be to try and group things together. This may mean that you have to use one or more new stores, but you will save yourself a huge amount of time and hassle (and you may just find a new favorite store to frequent!)

When doing tasks for work, you should be on the lookout for ways you can make the tasks more efficient. Perhaps a task that requires six different steps can be streamlined to only three steps if it is done a different way. Often things are done a certain way simply because that was how they were done the first time. If the business has grown or changed since, there may now be a more efficient way to get the task done.

Not only will you save yourself time if you find a more efficient way to do a task, but most bosses look favorably on an employee who improves how they work!

If you have a lot of tasks on your list of things to do, rather than diving straight in and working like mad, pause for just a few moments and ask yourself two questions for every item on the list; Do I need to do this? Is there a better way I can do this? Those few minutes of thought may save you hours or even days of work!