Nowadays we lead such busy lives with so little time in which to do it. We have friends to meet, places to go calls to make, many other things to do and then, of course, there is Facebook.
In the workplace, with each promotion, there is more you have to do and the 24 hour day just seems too short. You may think you can get by with very little sleep but this will soon badly affect our ability to concentrate and perform efficiently and can damage our health, mentally and physically. No one can do it all. 
Therefore you need to manage your time in order to survive and prosper. Why not set yourself a goal so you can plan your path towards that goal. Your next step will be to recognise and separate what is important (urgent) from what is important (not urgent) from what is not important (not urgent) and what is not important (not needed). Now you can set your time priorities.
Once that has been completed, you need to plan your time. Think of what you need to accomplish and the time frame; be critical. To ensure you do not overlook any part of the job, you should write the sequence of actions.

Work-Life Balance

With this in place, you now have to manage your time so set deadlines. Why is it taking you a long time to complete a task? Be honest. Is it because you need lots of concentration, then tackle this when your level of concentration is at the highest; you will be aware of this as it is different with everyone as it could be early in the morning or after lunch. If it is a lack of knowledge, then you should enrol on a course and learn the subject? This will enhance your knowledge base, not to mention your CV and give you the confidence to work quickly. 
Managing your time should also include delegation. It is important to plan delegation and allow time for training before you delegate and give the required outcome of the work expected. People do like to be involved so both parties win.
You should spread delegation around so as to motivate colleagues. Remember to keep your core job to yourself. Your colleagues may also have their own time management plan so be sensitive to their time. This is not the ideal time to delegate to them or stop by for a chat. Maybe you can offer to assist.

What about the other party who keeps on talking about anything and everything? You can politely ask the client if there is anything else you can assist them with; with a colleague, you can suggest you catch up later as you have an important call or job to complete.

Find details of PA Courses for technical skills and more complicated soft skills at www.pa-course.co.uk