Calendars:

Using Outlook or Google Calendar has helped keep track of the many events, calls, and time based "to do" items.

Contact Management:

Facebook, LinkedIn, Outlook and our mobile phone contact lists allow us to quick find and connect with our personal and business contacts.

Event Management:

Facebook and Evite allow us to quickly find, calendar and plan our events.

Even with all these powerful tools, our "to do" lists continue to stay full. It has been 6 months or so since I first read "4 Hour Workweek" by Tim Ferriss, and I recommend this book for anyone who wants to get things done more effectively. I have been surprised at how effective Ferriss' techniques have been. Here are a few things that I have been working on:

1) NOT checking email first thing in the morning and multiple times through the day.

Email is such a distracting force, that it drives your day, rather than allowing you to manager your time. Set aside some time in the afternoon to deal with your email and you will find that you are getting way more done due to this "batching" process.

2) Do Nothing!

There is the item that is perpetually on your "to do" list, yet it never is important enough to take priority over the more important tasks or the emergencies cropping up throughout the day. TAKE IT OFF YOUR LIST! Most likely nothing will have changed, except you have one less thing to stress about.

3) Get your Important, yet Challenging Tasks done first.

The item that you need to get done that won't go away (i.e. filing taxes) is looming. Get it done. Not only will it free your mind making you more effective, but it will make you feel better.

Changing your work habits are not easy, but once you get accustomed to suggestions (1) and (2), it gets easier and easier to stick to these best practices. The hardest change to implement is suggestion (3). If you are able to use Ferriss' game plan, you will see major results in a short period of time, and your stress level will decrease significantly.