I know from experience that people can feel overwhelmed by their day to day lives. I constantly find myself buried under a pile of tasks to carry out. To-do lists and reminders snowball into avalanches waiting to wreak havoc on your life. It’s difficult to stay on top of every little thing and we often succumb to procrastination. Time-management is not easy, but once you master it, you can conquer any schedule no matter how hectic.

The best thing anyone can do to avoid the overwhelming feeling of having a million thing things to do and not enough time to do them in is to prevent procrastination. Procrastination is the grim reaper of to-do lists because it will always catch up with you. By delaying tasks, you just accumulate them, making even more work for yourself. Procrastination is a very hard habit to break, but one helpful way to overcome it is by creating lists. Checking one item off of the list motivates you to move forward and keeping checking things off until it is completed. Procrastination tricks you into believing that you are alleviating stress by delaying chores, but what you are actually doing is building stress which is why simple jobs can seem so arduous. If you stay on top of things and don't let procrastination get the best of you, then you will find yourself with an abundance of stress-free, work-free nights.

Self-motivation is also a key factor in making time for your tasks. By setting goals and encouraging yourself to complete assignments, you will get things done faster and in a timely manner. Self-motivation is what helps you overcome procrastination and keeps you on track to complete every task.

At the end of a long day, the last thing someone wants to do is another job, chore, or piece of homework. Sometimes we just need a deep breath and to detach ourselves from the situation to gain perspective and a fresh mindset. Taking a breather or break is something I have learned to do when I feel like the clock is ticking faster than I want it to. By taking a break you might think that you are actually slowing down your progress or procrastinating, but a break is sometimes just the thing you need to rejuvenate. A moment of relaxation eases the body and mind for a few minutes and allows you to return more focused and dedicated to the task at hand.

Another thing I find myself doing when I’m pressed for time is completing the less important tasks before the urgent ones. Differentiating between urgent and important is a key skill to time management. Urgent tasks should be finished before important tasks no matter the difficulty. These tasks are urgent for a reason and by putting them off, you are almost always hurting yourself.

I know it might sound crazy, but sometimes we make life harder than it actually is. By prioritizing, not procrastinating, and doing what has to be done we can try to untangle the mess we often get ourselves into. Time is of the essence and is important not to waste it doing things that aren't important or helping us. Live your life to the fullest and try to enjoy every single second.