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" Why is it that 24 hours in a day never seems like enough? From rushing out the door in the morning to whipping up a literally half-baked dinner at night, we&amp;#039;re all pressed for time. But a few small changes can add precious minutes to your day, minutes that can help you stay organized, relaxed and, most important, sane. Grab groceries on the go &amp;quot;I keep my grocery list on my computer in a Word document. Since I buy mostly the same things every time I go shopping, each item has a small line next to it, and I just check it off if I need it. The items are categorized, too: deli, staples, produce, household, personal, etc. Each week I print out the list. I&amp;#039;ve also kept it on the refrigerator so as my husband or kids use the last of something, they can put a check mark next to the item.&amp;quot; Dara Chadwick, Johnston, RI Make the drive do double duty It&amp;#039;s a long drive from school, so I have the kids do their homework in the car. I&amp;#039;m right there and available for questions. It doesn&amp;#039;t work for every subject, but it makes a big difference in freeing up time when we get home.&amp;quot; Grace Pizzey, Seattle Melt minutes off mealtime I use Dream Dinners (dreamdinners.com) to assemble, then freeze uncooked entrees. I just take out one or two a week, and I don&amp;#039;t have to think about what to make. They&amp;#039;re often better than my cooking, and not hugely more expensive, especially because I don&amp;#039;t have to go shopping and buy lots of different ingredients.&amp;quot; Debbie Abrams Kaplan, Foster City, CA Send cards with a click &amp;quot;I send greeting cards through YourCardConnection.com, which lets me send real paper cards from my computer in my own handwriting font. I don&amp;#039;t have to run to the store and I always have cards on hand. I just pick a card from the catalog, type my personal message, enter the recipient&amp;#039;s name and click Send. The cards are printed, stuffed, stamped and mailed for me for about $1.&amp;quot; Donna Smallin, author of Organizing Plain and Simple, Phoenix Solve Dressing Dilemmas &amp;quot;I have a section in my closet with a couple of outfits for days when I wake up late or don&amp;#039;t know what to wear. I have a set formal business outfit, office casual outfit and a date/dinner-with-family outfit.&amp;quot; Natasha Antonucci, New York City Axe errant errands &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve changed my dentist, hairstylist, primary doctor, manicurist, skincare specialist and gym so that everything is within a 4-mile radius of home and work. It saves me a ton of driving time.&amp;quot; Indra Gardiner, chief operating officer, Bailey Gardiner Inc., San Diego Shop smarter &amp;quot;I buy the same present for each similar occasion\u2014the same heart-shaped Le Creuset casserole dish for weddings, the same bouncy seat for baby showers. As long as the recipients don&amp;#039;t know each other, who cares?&amp;quot; Lauren Lipton, online shopping and catalog expert at The Wall Street Journal, New York City Use technology tricks &amp;quot;I use an HP iPAQ and phone (similar to a BlackBerry) that syncs into my computer. When I&amp;#039;m stuck in the carpool line, I read e-mails and check tasks.&amp;quot; Jeanne Hurlbert, Baton Rouge, LA Whittle down work &amp;quot;I keep a notebook on the desk by my phone and jot down all my notes from calls or messages in it. This way, I don&amp;#039;t have to rifle through Post-its and separate pieces of paper to find things, and I can also tear out a page and put it directly into a client&amp;#039;s file, so I&amp;#039;m not backtracking looking for it later.&amp;quot; Barb Friedman, professional organizer, Milwaukee Cut down on calls &amp;quot;Due to outrageous cell phone bills, I cut back to a 400-minute plan (from a 2,000-minute plan). The bonus is, it helped my time management, because I no longer answer the phone automatically. I check the caller, and if I don&amp;#039;t recognize the number or know it&amp;#039;s not urgent, I wait and return the call or check voicemail on a land line. I got back work and personal time, and my bill is a quarter of what it was!&amp;quot; Doni Luckett, Denver Minimize menu planning &amp;quot;I plan the same dinner schedule for each night of the work week so I can buy everything on the weekend and be prepared. Monday is vegetarian; Tuesday, pasta; Wednesday, fish and steamed veggies; Thursday, chicken. Sounds routine, but it works.&amp;quot; Lynn Waxman, Palm Beach Gardens, FL Stop searching, get going &amp;quot;It sounds like a small thing, but every day when I come in the door, I leave my car keys and cell phone in an antique bowl on a table next to the front door. That way I don&amp;#039;t waste any time looking for them in the morning.&amp;quot; Shannon Miller, Olympic gold medalist, Jacksonville, FL Save time, save your skin &amp;quot;I use La Roche-Posay Anthelios XL Cream, which is a sunscreen with SPF 60 as well as a moisturizer. It speeds up my morning routine, and with the powerful SPF, I only put it on once a day.&amp;quot; Simma Lieberman, Berkeley, CA Try some smooth moves &amp;quot;Instead of shaving every few days, I wax my legs every six weeks. You can also use Kalo Hair Inhibitor Lotion to slow hair regrowth, which means less time either at the waxing salon or with a razor.&amp;quot; Robin Wilson, lifestyle expert, New York City Get carded &amp;quot;Gift cards at the grocery store or drugstore are the best things for last-minute &amp;#039;Oops, need a gift!&amp;#039; situations. You can get the Nordstrom card for your friend&amp;#039;s birthday, a Best Buy card for Father&amp;#039;s Day or a gas card for a student.&amp;quot; Kristen Proschold, Mountain View, CA Speed up showers &amp;quot;Not washing my hair in the morning saves about 25 minutes. Instead, I use Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry shampoo (available at Sephora). It&amp;#039;s essentially a powder that keeps unwashed hair from looking like an oil slick and makes it smell fresh. Now I only have to wash my hair in the shower three times a week.&amp;quot; Alyson Wagner, Brooklyn, NY Working in working out Don&amp;#039;t have time to hit the gym? Don&amp;#039;t sweat it. Kristen Gagne, group fitness manager at Equinox Fitness in Woodbury, New York, fills you in on quick ways to tone up, no matter how packed your schedule. During breakfast Perform push-ups by placing your hands on the kitchen counter while waiting for your coffee to brew. Step back and perform two to three sets of 15 repetitions against the counter. At the office Every time you stand up, perform 10 squats. Stuck in traffic Work your obliques and core muscles by performing side-to-side rotations in the driver&amp;#039;s seat. Turn 30 degrees back and forth in each direction until traffic starts moving. Chatting on the phone Stand in front of a staircase and alternate single leg lunges onto the bottom step. In bed Lie on your back and lift one leg at a time to stretch out the hamstrings, then pull both knees into your chest to stretch the lower back. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/wellness/a74/take-back-your-time/>