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" Wish you had more hours in the day? Well, what if we told you that you do\u2014you just don&amp;#039;t know it yet. Certain everyday habits have a way of siphoning five minutes here, 10 minutes there. But if you break those routines and streamline your day, you&amp;#039;ll get that time back\u2014and maybe more.  Time-Sapping Habit #1: Mindless TV Watching  You sit down to catch your favorite show at 8 p.m. Next thing you know, you&amp;#039;re clicking off the news at 11:30 p.m. How to Break It: Take Inventory &amp;quot;Television, even bad television, can be extremely habit-forming, with one show easily leading to the next,&amp;quot; says Laura Stack, author of SuperCompetent. Think about the last few shows you watched, she suggests. How many of them were you anticipating ahead of time and how many did you end up watching just because they were on? &amp;quot;Now pick a few shows you enjoy most and watch only those each week,&amp;quot; says Stack. &amp;quot;If you have TiVo or a DVR, even better. Watch on your own time and skip the commercials. Then shut off the TV and go about your business.&amp;quot; Time Saved: 1 to 2 Hours Photo by iStockphoto Time-Sapping Habit #2: The Morning Hunt  You&amp;#039;re on your way out the door, but wait! Where did you put your keys? Your cell phone? Those papers you need for work?  How to Break It: Create a Launching Pad You probably remind your kids to get their backpacks ready for school the night before. It&amp;#039;s time to take your own advice, Mom. &amp;quot;Keep a basket by the door you use most often\u2014the front door, the one leading to the garage\u2014to hold anything you need to take with you in the morning,&amp;quot; says Laura Vanderkam, author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. &amp;quot;Toss your keys in there when you get home. Place stuff you need to mail there before you go to bed. You get the idea.&amp;quot; As for your cell phone, Vanderkam says to give it a home that&amp;#039;s an extension of your launching pad: &amp;quot;Each night, charge it in the outlet nearest the door. That way you can just grab it when you&amp;#039;re ready to go.&amp;quot; Time Saved: 10 Minutes Photo by iStockphoto Time-Sapping Habit #3: Juggling Too Much at Once  You&amp;#039;re making dinner, and talking on the phone, and signing the permission slip your son just shoved in your face and\u2026well, the list could go on and on. How to Break It: Stop Multitasking It may seem counterintuitive, but multitasking actually slows you down. &amp;quot;In scientific terms, what you are really doing is task switching,&amp;quot; says Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World. &amp;quot;Because the brain can&amp;#039;t concentrate on two or more things at once, it can take a few seconds to rev up to a new task, then rev back down. Over time, that adds up to extra hours spent transitioning from one task to the next.&amp;quot; So if you&amp;#039;re already doing one thing, finish it before moving on to something else. Time Saved: 1 Hour Photo by Shutterstock  Time-Sapping Habit #4: &amp;quot;Easing&amp;quot; into Work  When you get to work in the morning, what&amp;#039;s the first thing you do? Get right down to business, or make yourself a cup of coffee? Chat with a few coworkers? Peruse the newspaper? Take a quick peek at your favorite website? Chances are you do at least one (or all!) of these things. How to Break It: There&amp;#039;s nothing wrong with transitioning into work mode. &amp;quot;Our brains need time to switch gears from being at home, but you have to put a time limit on puttering around,&amp;quot; says Vanderkam. Otherwise, you can easily lose a half hour or more from your workday\u2014and wind up having to stay late to finish a project. &amp;quot;Take just 10 minutes, not 30, to say hello to your pals, get some coffee or whatever it is that you do. Then get to work.&amp;quot;  Time Saved: 20 Minutes| Photo by iStockphoto Time-Sapping Habit #5: Getting Caught in the Net  You go online to pay the phone bill and wind up spending half the afternoon watching funny cat videos on YouTube and checking out friends on Facebook. How to Break It: If meandering online is fun for you, fine. &amp;quot;Just make sure to do it at an appropriate time and place that doesn&amp;#039;t interfere with work or family time,&amp;quot; says Stack. If you don&amp;#039;t trust yourself to make that call, try this: &amp;quot;Treat the Internet like any other tool. Use it when you need it and put it away when you&amp;#039;re done. Once you get what you came for, close the window and move on.&amp;quot; It might be tough at first, but once you see how much time you&amp;#039;re regaining, it will get easier and easier.  Time Saved: Potentially Several Hours Photo by iStockphoto Time-Sapping Habit #6: Being Too Accessible  Whenever anyone needs to reach you, all they have to do is call your cell. It&amp;#039;s always on. How to Break It: Unplug You know that little button that turns your phone off? Press it. &amp;quot;The sky won&amp;#039;t fall if you go offline for a while,&amp;quot; says Hohlbaum. Honestly, how many of your cell conversations are absolutely necessary and how many are just chitchat? Moms may have a hard time with this one, and understandably so. Your kid could have an emergency, after all. If you can&amp;#039;t cut the connection completely, at the very least rely on personalized ring tones. &amp;quot;Set yours so that you can immediately identify who&amp;#039;s calling.&amp;quot; If it&amp;#039;s someone important, pick up. If not, that&amp;#039;s what voice mail is for. And you won&amp;#039;t even have to waste the five seconds it takes to dig your phone out of your bag to check caller ID.  Time Saved: 30 to 45 Minutes Photo by Shutterstock Time-Sapping Habit #7: Constantly Checking Email  When you get an email, you have to read it, no matter who it&amp;#039;s from. How to Break It: You may think you&amp;#039;re working smart by keeping one eye on your inbox. But all you&amp;#039;re really doing is derailing your productivity. &amp;quot;If you drop everything to open every email that comes in throughout the day, you waste whatever time it takes to read, ignore, delete or act on it,&amp;quot; says Stack. You have to remind yourself that email is not your work; it&amp;#039;s a tool to do your work, adds Vanderkam, who suggests checking it just once an hour at most. Better yet, close your email program altogether while you work on other tasks. &amp;quot;If you can&amp;#039;t bring yourself to do that, then turn off the alerts,&amp;quot; says Stack. You&amp;#039;ll find unopened messages a bit less distracting if you don&amp;#039;t hear that ping every time a new one comes in. Time Saved: 30 Minutes to 1 Hour Photo by Shutterstock Time-Sapping Habit #8: Grocery Shopping on Saturday  With a job and kids, the weekend is the only time you have to do errands, especially a biggie like food shopping. How to Break It: Go on a Weeknight Lots of moms feel the same way you do: Saturday is grocery day. It&amp;#039;s no wonder the supermarket is always so packed. Turns out, you&amp;#039;ll save time if you shop during the week, especially in the evening. &amp;quot;Stores are much less crowded because most people just want to head home after a long day&amp;#039;s work,&amp;quot; says Stack. &amp;quot;Sure, you&amp;#039;ll be tired too, but the desire to get in and get out will keep you clipping down the aisles.&amp;quot; If you want to save money as well as time, head to the store on Wednesday. It&amp;#039;s the best day to shop, according to the National Supermarket Association. The shelves will be well stocked since most stores get food deliveries on Monday or Tuesday, and you&amp;#039;ll find lots of sales since Wednesday is typically the start of supermarkets&amp;#039; sales week. Keep in mind, those Wednesday bargains may lure other bargain-hunters like you, but chances are the aisles will still be less crowded than on a busy Saturday. Time Saved: 30 Minutes Photo by Shutterstock "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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