Time management is a huge issue for entrepreneurs. There’s always “one more thing” that must be looked at before you can tackle the real work. If you answer your emails now, you promise yourself you’ll get to work on the “big” project…but somehow, the small things take over and the day is gone – and you end up feeling you haven’t accomplished anything significant. Sound familiar?

It’s happened to me too often. I felt if I could clear the decks of the small stuff, I could get to the important things – the “must get done today” list – without distraction. But I’d soon realize it was late in the afternoon and I wasn’t feeling as creative as I should be to tackle a new project.

Here are three things you can put into action immediately so you can get your work done and feel great about what you’ve accomplished at the end of the day.

Make a second list. Yes, you’ve written everything in your day-planner or scheduled in your Blackberry so you know what has to be done. Take that long list and write out (on a separate paper) the top 2 or 3 items you must achieve before the end of the day – and work them.

Change your email settings. You’ve heard it before…don’t leave your email running all day – instead schedule time to check messages. If this is impossible to do (and that’s a mindset issue), turn off the chime sound letting you know a new message has arrived (if you’ve seen the movie UP, this is the “squirrel”) and change the command to check new messages every 5 minutes – it doesn’t have to be that often!

Schedule one hour per day for your business. Set time either before your “official” work day begins, over lunch, a 3:00 break or whatever time works for you – to work ON your business. Instead of struggling to put your ezine together, finalize a new product, network, or simply grow your business, give yourself a gift of one hour each day to work on this – faithfully.

These three strategies will not only help you to manage your time more efficiently, but you’ll become less stressed…and end up with more money at the end of the day.