People occasionally tell you，"Do that in your free time，"but in fact there's no such thing as"free"time. Even when you're lying by the swimming pool，that's leisure time --but it isn't free time.

    The most successful people are those who've mastered the time-saving tactics described here.

    Stay Focused

    All top performers establish priorities. Helen Gurley Brown，editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan，always keeps an issue of the magazine on her desk. Whenever she's tempted to fritter away time，doing something that doesn't contribute to the magazine's success，she glances at that issue，and it gets her back on track.

    One way to order your priorities is to create a"to do"list. Every evening，jot down the top20 tasks to be done the next day，and review the list several times throughout the day. The best way to accomplish what's on the list is to give each task a specific time slot.

    Pattern of Success

    Most people who want to get ahead spend useful time writing personal notes of gratitude，sympathy and congratulations. But when it comes to routine memos，letters，fact sheets and forms，they save a lot of time by relying on previously written material.

    Susan Taylor，editor-in-chief of Essence，has created some ４０form letters for everything from article rejections to replies to requests for donations. Stored on her computer，the letters can be called up，copied and customized by changing a few key words. Taylor then often adds a handwritten greeting at the bottom as a personal touch.

    Telephone Tips

    Financier J. B. Fuqua has made a fortune putting deals together over the telephone. His most important strategy is to make notes before he places a call.

    To avoid playing telephone tag，return phone calls right away，because you're likely to catch the caller and your messages won't pile up. If the person is busy，many time-tacticians make an appointment to call back. Leaving a detailed message on someone's voice mail prevents you from getting tied up in long conversations and will get you an answer more quickly.

    Do It Now

    As a renowned color consultant，the late Suzanne Caygill designed the homes and wardrobes of celebrities. To deal with all the demands of her schedule，she followed a rule learned from her seam-stress grandmother：If she had a job to do，she did it immediately. Too many people waste time "commencing to proceed to get started，"Caygill would say.

    If you just dive in，though，you'll be surprised at how fast you get things done. Remember，the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

    Freeze the Design

    Perfectionists can waste just as much time as procrastinators . Thomas R. Williams，former chairman of Wachovia Corporation，discovered that many young people in banking don't know when to stop researching a project and start wrapping it up. Those trainees could have learned something from engineers，who are taught to produce the best possible solution by a certain date. Even if a design is not perfect，they've done the best they could under deadline.

    Whenever you streamline a task or eliminate a hassle，you don't just save time. You make your life more pleasant. "Dost thou love life？"Benjamin Franklin once said. "Then do not squander time，for that's the stuff life is made of. "

   人們有時候會對你說：“在你空閑的時候做那件事吧，”但是，實際上這種“空閑”時間是沒有的。即使當你躺在游泳池邊時，那也是休閑時間，而非空閑時間。

    大多數成功者就是那些掌握了以下幾種節約時間方法的人們。

    專心致志

    所有獲得成功的人做事都分主次。《世界主義者》月刊的主編海倫·格利·布朗總是在辦公桌上放一本自己辦的雜志。每當她受到什么事情引誘而消磨時間、做一些與雜志成功無關的事情時，看看那本雜志，她的注意力就會回到正事上來。

    安排事情先后順序的一個方法是把要做的事情列成單子。每天晚上，把第二天要做的前20項工作簡要地寫下來，并在這一天當中，反復看幾遍這個單子。完成單子上的各項任務的最好方法是給每項工作留出一個專門的時間。

    成功的模式

    大多數想獲得成功的人都利用有用的時間來寫表示感謝、慰問和祝賀的私人信函。但是，如果所要寫的是日常工作的備忘錄、公函、資料匯總和表格的話，他們就會依靠以前寫過的文字資料來節省大量時間。

    《精粹》雜志的主編蘇珊·泰勒起草了大約40種復信格式，從退稿到答復捐贈請求，樣樣俱備。這些信都儲存在電腦中，可以隨時調出、復制，只要改動幾個關鍵的字詞就成了一份專門寫給某人的信件了。之后，泰勒常常會在信的結尾處加上一句親筆寫的問候語，以示親切。

    打電話須知

    金融家J·B·富卡通過電話集中做生意，發了大財。他最重要的策略是在打電話之前把要說的話寫下來。

    為了避免打電話時找不到人而捉迷藏，要及時給別人回電話，因為你很容易找到打電話的人，這樣你的留言就不會堆積起來。如果那個人此時正忙，許多善于運用時間的人就會約個時間再回電話。在有些人的錄音電話中留下詳細的口信，可以使你免受長時間談話之累，還會使你更快地得到答復。

    現在就做

    作為一名著名的色彩顧問，蘇珊娜·凱吉爾生前曾為許多知名人士設計房間和個人服裝。為了應付她時間表上的各種事情，她依照一條從她祖母那里學來的原則：如果有什么工作要做，她立即就做。凱吉爾說，很多人把時間浪費在“準備開始”上。

    盡管你剛剛開始這么做事，你也會對自己這么快就做完了事情感到意外。記住，種樹的最佳時間是20年前，僅次于它的最好時間就是現在。　

    凍結方案

    追求完美的人與那些愛拖延的人浪費的時間一樣多。瓦霍維婭公司前董事長托馬斯·R·威廉斯發現，許多在銀行界工作的年輕人不知道什么時候該停止研究方案，什么時候該著手結束工作。那些接受培訓的人倒應該向工程師學習一些東西，工程師們懂得，他們應在某一日期前拿出可能的最佳方案。即使方案不那么完美，但是他們已經在規定的期限內做了最大的努力。

    每當你高效率地完成了一項工作或是解決了一個難題時，你不僅僅是節約了時間，而是在使你的生活更加快樂。本杰明·富蘭克林曾經說過：“你熱愛生命嗎？那么就不要浪費時間，因為時間是組成生命的材料。”