Do you ever feel that you are going 24 hours a day 7 days a week? When did it become okay to take your cell phone into the dressing room at Dillard’s and talk to a friend or multi-task all day long, talking with several people, working on the computer and exchanging emails, all at once. Maybe I’m old fashion, but I like to talk to people face to face over “big girl coffee” or “kid chai” as my girlfriends and I say.Like most people, I want to get more done, and being a wife, mom, therapist, coach, domestic goddess, sister and friend there is a lot to do. But somehow working harder only seems to give me more work.

Whatever happened to the vision of “leisure time?” Whatever happened to the day when “labor saving devices” really did save us time instead of making us a slave. Tell the truth, when was the last time you didn’t answer your cell phone for a whole day?

Most of us are sleep-deprived. Most of us are in debt. Most of us have high blood pressure, headaches, ulcers or other stress-related discomfort. How did this happen? But more importantly, how can we change it?

Maybe the answer is to manage our lives better. Here are a few suggestions:

• Learn to say no! You don’t have to be all and do all. Say no to things you don’t like and even to some things you do like.
• Spend less than you make. No problem in this household, we drive cars that are almost 20 years old. Remember the saying, “time is money”? Well, money is time too.
• Live your values. Think about what you really value. When you die, you won’t think about the car you didn’t buy, you will think about the people you didn’t spend time with.
• Have a plan for the day. Decide what is important to get done in a day and don’t sweat the rest. For me, it’s my morning quiet time. If the kitchen floor doesn’t get sweep, oh well…
• Have more fun. Laugh more, give lots of hugs and kisses, and take time just to sit quietly with your special someone.
• Manage your time. Forget multi-tasking. Focus on what you want to get done now and put time limits on phone calls and activities.

Life is not a dress rehearsal. Don’t blow it! Time is the only resource any of us truly has, and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. So work hard and play hard and make it count.