6 Ways to Wring Extra Time From Your Day

Time is money, the old adage goes.

If you consider yourself a busy person, you probably don't feel that you have enough time to do everything that you want. You may have found yourself saying you need more than 24 hours in a day or you wish you had eight days in a week to accomplish all the things you need to do.

This is especially true for those who are paid by the hour, according to a study last year by the Stanford School of Business.

The study found that workers who bill or are paid by the hour can easily place a monetary value on their time, making the opportunity costs of spending it idly much clearer. In fact, "lawyers watching their kids play soccer admitted to mentally ticking away lost income for each minute they stood on the sidelines."

Whether you feel you need more time to work to make more money or to simply spend more time with your family, the fact remains that there will never be more than 24 hours in each day. The solution is to find an extra few hours in your day that you have been wasting.

Here are six places to look:

1. Your Commute

Your commute can be a huge time waster, especially if you live in a congested area that requires sitting in stop-and-go traffic each morning and evening. The easiest way to gain some extra time is to leave for work an hour earlier to avoid the traffic rush. This should allow you to drive at the speed limit the entire way and can cut anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour each way from your commute.