Is "me time" a dim and distant memory, as you wade through your day tackling tasks but achieving very little? Are you feeling the effects of poorly managed time – late for dental appointment, missing an important work deadline or completely forgetting about Junior needing an outfit for the school play? Take five minutes to read through these top time management tips for time-tight women and learn how to manage your day and reclaim some time for yourself.

Give yourself a break—remember there are only 24 hours in one day! Time management is not about finding extra minutes to get things done, it’s about making effective use of the time you do have and giving yourself some valuable me time in the process.

Do a time analysis—take a piece of paper and write down how much time you spend on all the things you do in a week. This could be working, looking after your children, studying, housework, "me" time, watching television, playing sports. Remember to include sleeping! When you have finished, have a look through your list. By completing this exercise, you will be able to identify exactly how you spend your time and will be able to notice how much time you waste too! It can often be surprising how much time we spend doing a particular activity—for example, how much television do you think you watch in a week?

Write down a realistic To Do list. Are you really going to redecorate the house, do the shopping and visit family in one day? Okay, I exaggerate, but when you have written your To Do list, leave it for a few moments and then revisit it. Imagine you were giving this list to someone else, with the same expectations you want from yourself. What do you think this person would say to you? Chances are it wouldn’t be too complimentary—yet you do this to yourself day in, day out. Look at your list again and identify the priority tasks. Priority tasks are the things that you know need actioning today. For example, sorting out the bills before the red ones drop on the mat would be a bigger priority than vacuuming the living room that you already did yesterday.

When you have a revised to do list with your priority tasks identified, work through each priority tasks—one at a time. Multi-tasking is a myth for the time-tight woman and often leads to us taking more tasks on, because we believe we can "multi-task" and get everything done! Focus all your time, attention and energy on one priority task and you will notice that you will complete it in a fraction of the time compared to if you were trying to get it done alongside three or four other tasks. If you have a priority task that will take more than one day to complete—break it down into smaller, more manageable chunks of time. Commit yourself to spending an hour every day focusing upon this task until it is completed.

Learn to delegate—women often find it hard to say "No" and end up taking on unrealistic, unmanageable workloads that even the most time efficient person would baulk at. Are there some tasks on your to do list that you could pass to someone else to do? Can a colleague take on some of your calls or paperwork that really doesn’t need your input? Can your partner help out with some of the household tasks? If you have children, get them involved too—age appropriate tasks can be delegated, so you can free up time for yourself whilst teaching your children valuable lessons in team working and responsibility. It also helps offering a reward when the job is done—not just for the kids either!