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What would you do if you had an hour all to yourself tonight? Read a book? Soak in the tub? Shave your legs? As it turns out, a lot of people are run ragged these days. We work 20 percent more hours - and have 32 percent less free time - than our parents did. Not surprisingly, surveys show that what 66 percent of us crave, is time just for ourselves. Nothing great! Just one task-free, guilt-free hour at the end of each day. And that is possible!

Shorten Your Paper Trail :

We receive about 2,700 pieces of mail each year. It takes time to deal with all that paper, plus people never use eighty percent of what they decide to keep. Your best defence is to choose one comfortable spot where you`ll always do paperwork, and make sure it`s stocked with stamps, envelopes, pens, In, Out, and File It trays, and a big wastebasket. Ask yourself, what`s the worst thing that could happen if I don`t keep this? If you`re willing to live with the result, toss it. You can actually plough through a week`s worth of junk and bills in 15 minutes, instead of the full hour it usually takes.

Go to Bed:

Almost 65 percent of us aren`t getting enough sleep to feel well-rested during the day. Do you know that it can take up to twice as long to accomplish difficult mental tasks when you`re exhausted? If you want to be productive tomorrow, getting eight hours of sleep tonight needs to be more important than folding that last load of laundry.

Go Gung Ho at Work:

Surprisingly, people spend less than 60 percent of an eight-hour workday doing productive work. Distractions, interruptions and unnecessary tasks consume the other 40 percent. Staying late isn`t the answer. Productivity plunges 25 percent when people work more than 60 hours a week. Instead, schedule daily focus periods: Turn off the ringer on your phone and email, shut your office door and challenge yourself to do a job from start to finish.

Check Email Less Often:

Nearly 110 million people now use email, and although there`s no doubt that it is a quick and convenient way to communicate, many people receive some 80 to 120 messages every day. Constantly checking and responding to email is like having letters delivered to your door one at a time - it`s a distraction and a poor use of your time. The solution: Check your email only twice a day. Most women hate this at first. But try it for just one week and you`ll be shocked at how much more you`ll accomplish during the day.

Whittle Down Your To-Do List:

People spend the majority of their day doing tasks they believe are urgent. Yet sometimes the work can be put off for days, weeks, or even months. Think about it. Which of today`s chores could you skip in order to gain an hour of leisure?

Prune Your Home:

There`s no question it takes time to clean out closets, drawers, attics, and basements, yet you could lose even more precious time if you don`t: on an average, we spend 150 hours every year looking for things they`ve misplaced. Throw away anything you don`t like or don`t use into bags and boxes for charity.

Combine Your Errands:

If you buy groceries two or three times each week, as well as make quick trips to other shops or department stores, you`ll save at least an hour a week by combining your errands into one big trip.

Buy Time, Not Things:

Skip a few unnecessary purchases and use the money you save to hire someone to do the jobs that leave you exhausted. You`ll never miss the money it costs to get someone to water the garden and you`ll win back something irreplaceable: your time.