Even with editorial calenders, business apps, and lectures/classes for time management, you probably still don’t seem to have enough hours in the day to keep up with everything you do. As a business owner, this is doubly true.

Instead of stressing over when to find the time to do a task, follow these time management tips and get a handle on how to effectively manage your time.

Time Saving Practices

• Schedule your tasks. You may already do this in a calender. It allows you to see how much time you’re spending on certain tasks and when you’ll have time for other things. At Mariposa, we use Basecamp to keep our projects on schedule.

• Keep an appointment book. Schedule appointments with yourself to sort out what you need to do. It will also give you a bird’s eye view on how you spend your time.

• Stay on the lookout for apps that can save you time. Freshbooks is a great tool for sending invoices. Boomerang for Gmail allows you to send emails later and to hide emails that you need to see later, and then have them pop back up again in your inbox at a set time. Signals allows you to use templates in your email (and so much more).

• Schedule office hours for employees or clients, to avoid interuption. By saying, I have office hours from 9-12, you allow clients and employees to get access to you, but still stay on schedule.

• Spend 50% of your time on the tasks that are most productive for your business. Know when you are most productive, mornings or afternoons, and block out that time for business planning.

• Take time before you start your day to go over what you have planned. This keeps you on schedule and refreshes your memory, allowing you to be better prepared each day.

• Try to block out any distractions like personal business or social media except for business. Be strict about this, and you’ll be amazed at how much time you’ll find.

• Don’t feel like you have to answer phone calls, messages, or emails as soon as they pop in. Finish your task before engaging in messaging or other work. Turn off notifications in your email and put your cell phone in a drawer so you can’t be distracted.

Know that you probably won’t get everything done and that’s okay. Stick to your plan and allow for some mistakes.

Keeping yourself organized is one of the most important parts of being a business owner. With these simple tips, you can stay on top of everything and hopefully find a few more hours each day.