Taking initiative can often mean taking charge of your own time. Time management is not something you can do once and then just forget. It takes ongoing effort and commitment to ensure that you're always acting on the things that are most important and not distracted by the many trivial things that vie for your attention. If your follow these tips, you'll be sure to use your time wisely more often than not:

1. At the end of each workday, before you go home, make a to-do list for the next day; prioritize by placing your most important tasks at the top and your least important taskes at the bottom.

2. Arrive office at least half an hour early and reserve this "quiet" time to work uninterrupted on your higest-priority task.

3. Don't work on lower-priority tasks before you ar completely satisfied with the progess you ahce amde on your higer-priority tasks.

4. Buy and use a day planning calenda or system

5. Go through your in-box at least ince a day and prioritize the contents. Dea with routine correspindence promptly instead of allowing it to pile up.

6. Opt out of unimportant mettings, and attend those that can help you achieve your goals and objectives.

7. Focus on doing the work that you are uniquely qualified to do. Delegate the rest to your co-workers.

8. Set aside a couple of uniterrupted hours every week to think about the big picture and your long-term goals and objectives, and to develop strategies for attending then.

9. Learn how to say no, politely but firmly.