Feeling stressed? Relief could be 10 minutes away.

That is how long it should take to plan your day, and such minimal planning leads to taking control of your life, advised Patty Kreamer, president of Kreamer Connect.

Her company, which she operates from her Green Tree home, helps residential and corporate clients become more productive and happier by organizing and simplifying their work and their lives.

Mrs. Kreamer will present It's Time to Take Control of Your Life at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Peters Township Public Library, 616 E. McMurray Road.

To register, call 724-941-9430. The free session is open to nonresidents and will include a question-and-answer period. Mrs. Kreamer will sign copies of her books, "But I Might Need it Someday" and "The Power of Simplicity." Both are available at bookstores.

This is the third appearance Mrs. Kreamer has made at the Peters library.

Mrs. Kreamer is president of the Pittsburgh chapters of the National Association of Professional Organizers and the National Speakers Association.

She said the best way to begin ridding yourself of physical clutter, which causes stress and strain, is to stay focused and work in one area at a time. If you leave the area, you will become further distracted and lose valuable time.

Other tips on her Top 10 List for organizing and simplifying your life are:

Set time limits; use a timer.

Have a clutter buddy to call when you get frustrated.

Reward yourself.

Learn to purge desks, offices, attics.

Make the process fun.

She said procrastination can be avoided by setting 10 minutes aside each day to see what you need to do, breaking large projects into small tasks and developing a time line.

Mrs. Kreamer, 41, defined time management as taking back your time and making better decisions on how to use that time.

Besides slowing down long enough to plan your day, her other "musts' include:

Find a calendar that reflects day, week, month at a glance.

Schedule your day around your "prime time."

Take your to-do list and pop each item into a time slot in your planner.

Plan no more than 80 percent of your day to leave room for flexibility and interruptions.

Review your visions and goals periodically.

Mrs. Kreamer's foray into categorizing began as a child in Castle Shannon when she devised a method to organize her Halloween candy.

After graduation from Bethel Park High School and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she worked in marketing for various companies.

But after 18 years of organizing those offices, she decided to turn her skills into her own business. Her going rate starts at $65 an hour for residential clients.

Mrs. Kreamer said people today are largely stressed because of time clutter: too much to do and too little time.

That clutter refers not only to the physical, she said, but to mental and emotional clutter as we overwhelm ourselves trying too hard to please.

"Choosing is key. I don't think people make choices. They just say 'yes,' " she said.

For more, visit byebyeclutter.com.