Do your habits help you achieve positive results, or do they hinder your success? Check your habits against these good time-management habits. Merrill Douglass, in his book Success Secrets, gives 5 habits to utilizing time more effectively.

Habit No. 1: Keep setting new goals. The simple truth is that people who regularly write out their goals achieve more. Studies show they also make more money and gain more personal fulfillment.

Habit No. 2: Analyze your behavior. What do you do? Why do you do it? How often do you do it? How much time do you spend doing it? How much does it help? At least once a year, keep a time log for a month. Track both work time and personal time.

Habit No. 3: Plan your time. A good plan will help you accomplish more. It will also save you time and effort. Write out a plan for every week. What are your goals for this week? What must you do? When will different activities take place? How much time will you need? Try this for several weeks, and then evaluate your progress to see how much it helps.

Habit No. 4: Cut out timewasters. Most of us complain about the timewasters in our lives. However, very few people are actively working to eliminate the timewasters that bother them most. Stop complaining and act. Pick one timewaster every week, and focus on decreasing it. Can you eliminate it? Can you reduce it? Can you lessen its impact? Do this every week, all year long. In just a few weeks, you will have formed the habit of searching for and eliminating timewasters.

Habit No. 5: Stop procrastinating. We often try to side-step unpleasant things by putting them off. Sometimes it works; most of the time it does not. Fight the do-it-later urge. Do it now instead.

If you always do what you have always done, you will always be what you have always been. Do not expect different results from the same old actions.

“Act like people with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute count. Do not be foolish. Instead find out what you have been designed by God to do and do it!” – Ephesians 5:15-16