Finding time isn't difficult. In fact, some of the best exercises that improve the quality of your life are short and easy. One of my favorites is the "Finding Time for Your Ideal Day" visualization.

Finding Time for Your Ideal Day

1. For a month, set aside 15 minutes a day.

   Select time when you will be uninterrupted. If needed, divide this exercise into 3 five-minute segments.

2. Sit back and relax for the first 5 minutes. Imagine your ideal day.

   In 5 minutes, you can imagine a lot! Envision yourself waking up, stretching, and going about your ideal day. What are you doing? How are you feeling? The more vivid your imagination, the better! Sense the sounds, the tastes, the smells, and the sights as the day unfolds before you. Most important, experience the pleasure!

3. In the next 5 minutes, pick out portions of this ideal day when you are alone or enjoying your animal companion.

   You are selecting this set of images because they are completely within your power to bring about, without others' participation.

4. Then identify a five-minute time slice that you can duplicate today.

   Select something that you don't currently do, or something that you generally don't allow yourself to fully enjoy.

5. Take the third 5-minute segment and do it.

   Let yourself be totally in the moment. Pick the time of day when it will be easiest for you, and when this activity (or lack of activity) will mean the most to you.

Does this seem simple? It is! Yet engaging in this exercise provides you with 5 profound benefits:

Your 5 Lifetime Benefits

1. You develop your powers of visualization.

   You can call on this skill to reduce stress, enhance creativity and even promote healing in tiny slices of time.

2. You clarify your values about how you want to use your time.

   The more often you visualize, the more you learn about what time choices fulfill you. Become an expert on your happiness.

3. In just fifteen minutes a day for a month, you create a pattern that's easy to maintain.

   A month of continuous daily practice establishes a new life pattern. What an easy way to add daily pleasure to your life!

4. You prove your power to improve your life through basic time choices.

   Nothing helps foster self-reference like experiencing simple pleasures you provide yourself.

5. You cultivate the gift of being in the moment.

   You'll experience firsthand how this focus stretches time and multiplies your capacity for enjoyment.

It works if you work. What other ways can you take control of your life and your time?