None of us really have the time to do the things in life we really need to. Mow the lawn? Don't have time. Clean the gutters? Don't have time. Exercising and eating right to get in shape and live a longer healthier life? Don't have time!

This is the excuse that so many of us give both to other people and to ourselves to excuse us for not doing the things in life that we really should be. Obviously the most important item on that list is getting in shape and becoming a healthier person. The fact is that to do this only requires a commitment of about 45 minutes a day. If you're truly realistic and look at all the things you do during the day, I am certain that just about everyone in the world could find 45 minutes to do something extremely productive for their health and fitness.

Let's just start with your daily activities. Making a list of every single thing you do during the day for about a week or so will be extremely illuminating. In fact, you will probably begin to change your habits after only doing the list once or twice out of sheer shame and guilt. If you truly list every single thing that you do during the day and include the time of how long you get it that will be extremely easy to locate the time you need to focus on more productive activities such as health and fitness. For instance, are you surfing on the Internet for an hour for no particular reason other than to pass the time or entertain yourself? Are you watching 90 minutes of a mind numbing reality television show or spending 20 minutes chatting with coworkers about nothing in particular? While all of these things provide distractions in our daily life are sometimes needed to break up the monotony of the day, they all have one thing in common: they are unproductive.

Simply rearranging your day to include an intense 45 minute workout will help remove the boredom and monotony of your regular workday while injecting an activity that is not only productive but could lead to a longer and healthier life. Below is a quick checklist that you can use as an exercise to help you manage your time more effectively and work to add more productive activities into your day such as focusing on exercise and your diet.

• Make a list of every activity you do during the day and the time it takes to complete each one (INCLUDE EVERYTHING, whether productive or not. Eating, sleeping, brushing your teeth, surfing on the internet, etc)

• Make a list of PRODUCTIVE activities that you would like to add into your daily activity and the time it would take to complete each one. (exercising, preparing healthy food, starting a book about personal development etc)

• List the specific goals you wish to hit for each of the productive activities above (lose 10 lbs, prepare a healthy breakfast and lunch vs. buying fast food, read 20 pages in your book each day, etc.)

• Finally, swap out unproductive things from your list one by one while adding the productive activities one by one until your daily plan contains more positive productive activities than negative unproductive ones.

Simply by breaking down these changes into a simple to follow list it is more likely that you will make these changes a regular part of your life and therefore benefit from the positive activities. Time management is all about being honest with yourself and the time you spend on all the activities you do throughout the day. Be honest, and if you truly wish to make your time more productive, the simple checklist above can help you get there.

List your daily activities. Set your goals. Make a to do list, EVERYDAY!