Like so many, I struggle with how to structure my work day to get it all done – let alone get it all done well or happily.

The article below has a lot of great tips – many are old, some are new, but this is a great comprehensive list for the self-employed. The one that really struck me this week was “Deal with it Once.”

Do you ever get an email from a client, let it sit in your inbox for several hours while trying to do something else, while internally obsessing over what that client meant, reading between the lines, and otherwise giving that message way more life than it deserves? That’s a day-killer right there! I even take it a step further sometimes: Send an email out to that difficult client, and then obsess over what the response might be… That one can go on for days!

The latter issue is my own neurosis, and just plain ridiculous, but the former issue can be dealt with by using the advice of Ms. Davis: just answer the email now, and get it off your plate and off your mind. Rip off the band-aid, as they say! You’ll be glad you did. Email is such a huge part of what makes business tick, so make it productive in the way you think about it. Let it work for you, instead of against.

The rest of the advice in the article is solid, and I’m implementing many of these thoughts to keep my mind in gear and business moving well. Worth the read: 11 Expert Tips to Help You Be More Productive in 2014

(Photo courtesy Suat Eman, freedigitalphotos.net)