Are you too busy or are you procrastinating?

Small business owners are usually extremely busy and often overwhelmed by the amount and variety of tasks they must accomplish in a given week.  We often hear that there isn't enough time in a day/week to get everything done.  We understand this feeling as we are small business owners too! 

What we have noticed is that it is usually the unpleasant tasks that get pushed to the back and left undone.  Beth and I share a calendars on Microsoft Outlook and we schedule all time we are working at clients there as well as any meetings we will be attending.  What we don't always do is put tasks we are going to work on at the office on the calendar.  Since we work from our virtual office (our homes), we do a great deal of work there.  We have noticed that when we are not getting a job done that putting it on the calendar on a specific day, at a specific time pushes us enough to get the task completed. 

We are great believers in calendars-ours are color coded and maintained rigorously.  We schedule family events as soon as they come to our attention and as we are planning each month, we make sure we have set aside time for big projects which are upcoming. 

If you find you aren't getting essential but unpleasant tasks (bookkeeping?!) done time after time, consider putting them on the calendar for a day and time you feel the strongest.  We also have found that scheduling something fun right after the task you dislike also gives you incentive.

What techniques do you use to get all your work done?