Are you busy or are you productive? Working from home as a solo-preneur requires that you keep a close eye on how you spend your time. Are you also sometimes so busy, with no time to spare, but at the end of the day, when you look back, you can’t show anything substantial that you’ve accomplished?

What I’ve realized in my business is that time-wasters are often the biggest culprits for not reaching my goals on-time or growing my business as fast as I like.

I’ve put a few practices in place to streamline my workday, eliminated the non-essential tasks and now I can focus my attention on the things I really enjoy and do best. Now most of my days are much more productive and I get things done.

If time management is one of the areas that bugs you down in your business as well, here are a few tips I’ve implemented that really work well. You do not have to do all of them. Even if you start by implementing one change in your day, it can already have a positive impact on your workload and your sense of accomplishments.

1. Plan your day. If you have a very long “to-do” list it can often feel overwhelming trying to work it off. One way to get your focus back is to rather plan each day in terms of 3-5 activities or tasks that you HAVE to complete that day – no matter what. Then stick to it and only after you’ve completed them, you can move on to other activities on the list. If one task is too big to accomplish in a day, break it down into smaller manageable chunks that you can complete.

2. Don’t Multi-task. I know we as women seem to think that doing several things at once is more efficient. Even if we can do many things simultaneously, it doesn’t mean we should do it. In reality we are less effectively when we multi-task. Rather focus on your 3-5 tasks per day, one at a time and do it well and quickly. When it is completed, move on to the next one.  This will reduce your stress levels drastically and increase your confidence because you’ll get things done and off your long to-do list.

3. Eliminate repetitive tasks. When you have to do a task repetitively, like answering the same questions from clients over and over via email, create systems to streamline those tasks. E.g. answer the question in detail once and save the email as a draft on your computer. Each time you have to answer the same question, you can easily customize the draft and do not have to start from scratch. Also create a FAQ section on your website and refer clients to it.

4. Take a lunch-break. As tempting as it may seem to eat lunch in front of your computer, it is actually counter-intuitive. You need to rest your brain and “recharge your batteries”. Getting away from your PC for a while can stimulate fresh ideas and help you get perspective for making better decisions.

5. Schedule time for distractions. Things that can take up a lot of unnecessary time or that can throw you off-track are email, social media, reading blogs, searching the web for information or going into town. Schedule time in your calendar to take care of these distractions – preferably in the afternoon. Don’t do any of them before the scheduled time. You can even set a specific time limit to complete it. Grouping your distractions into one time period, allows you to do more important work first.

In the end it is not really a question about how much time we have, it is all about how we spend it. While having enough time, might seem like an unreachable goal at first, implementing small changes on how you spend your time and getting into a habit of  sticking to those changes, can often help you become much more productive.