Have you ever come home tired, and thought to yourself -- "Self, that was a busy day!" Then just as you plop down into your big overstuffed easy chair, your loving spouse asks you the dreaded question (you know the one) -- "So, what did you do today?"

The problem with this question is that you can't answer it. You may have to face the fact that even though you know you feel like you have been busy all day, in reality you have accomplished nothing! How could that be?

The key here isn't how much you are doing, it's what you are doing. The key to productivity is not the feeling of busyness, but in taking specific actions that take you closer to your goals. So, in measuring a productive day you may size it up by reflecting back on exactly what actions you were able to accomplish during the day to take yourself closer to your goals.

Three steps to taking control of your time

1. Learn to invest time wisely

Ask yourself if you actually knew the date of your eventual death would you find that time was more precious? Would every day that passes have more meaning? Would every Saturday morning with your family take on new importance?

Of course it would! I believe that time is a thing, intangible yes, but real and with incalculable value. Time is truly a precious commodity, but unlike other commodities we can't control it, so if we can't control it -- how can we possibly manage it? The fact is that time management is an oxymoron -- an impossible feat that no mere mortal can accomplish. The only thing that we can manage is ourselves, so time management for most of us really becomes self-management.

What are you doing to manage yourself within the time you have been given? Here are three key questions to ask yourself:

• What key relationships should I be investing my time in?
• What key business strategies could help me accomplish my goals faster, and easier, if only I would make a significant investment of time?
• How much more time am I willing to squander in my life on things that have no real meaning?

If we think of time as being a thing, a precious commodity, we should then also think of it as something that can be invested. We can invest our precious commodity into many areas -- projects, investment or even people; or we can just waste it.

2. Set goals

Without goals, time management is impossible. Why? Because in the absence of goals there is no need to manage your time. You can simply allow yourself to drift in the sea of mediocrity that surrounds most business professionals.

These are the same professionals who often ask "Why can't I get ahead?". They fail to see the importance of setting goals and instead they sail rudderless through their careers wondering why they can't seem to make their businesses flourish.

To take immediate control of your career you must commit yourself to a set of real goals. To build real goals you must understand that true goals are built first on a driving purpose. A driving purpose is something that you are absolutely passionate about. Having a driving purpose behind your goals is a force inside of you that will keep you passionate about your job even on the darkest days. What is the driving force in your life today -- your life's passion?

Some examples might be:

• To provide for my family in a way they can be proud of.
• To give my kids the ability to go to a four star college.
• To build the house of my dreams.
• To spend quality time with my spouse, traveling the world.
• To build financial security for myself.

Now what goals must you set to achieve the driving purpose you have set in your life? What must happen in order for you to achieve your dream?

3. Building a priority plan

A priority plan is a list of actions that you must take each day in order to move closer to your goals, which in turn will take you closer to your overall driving purpose. This list of priorities is absolutely the most important component of any time management plan because in the absence of a priority plan, you will without a doubt find yourself focusing on areas that have no impact on your goals or your driving purpose, thus you will be squandering your precious and limited resource: time.

On the top of your daily "To-do" list, write down your priority list for the day, and do those items first!

For Instance:

• Call five FSBO's today
• Send out three Thank You cards
• Call 5 sphere of influence members
• Whatever you think should be on your list

Another suggestion is to rate all of your daily activities by their impact on your priorities. For instance, on the margin of your appointment book each morning, you may want to put a plus symbol next to each item that will take you closer to your goals, and minus symbol next to each item that although important today does not help you achieve your goals.

This process will slowly sensitize you to how much time you can squander if you're not focused on true priorities.

And the next time your spouse asks you about your day, you can talk about what you accomplished, not what kept you busy.

Jim Remley is a speaker, author, and consultant. He is also an active real estate broker in Southern Oregon where he owns a network of six offices. Jim won the Rookie Instructor of the Year award in 2001 from Realty-U, the largest network of real estate educators in the nation. Recently he won the 2002 Pacesetter Award, and was nominated for the Real Estate Instructor of the Year Award during the first quarter of 2003. To learn more about Jim, please visit www.properformer.com, or email him at jim@properformer.com.