For small business owners, one of the most critical components of running a successful business is time management. However, this can be easier said than done depending on your current workload.

While some elements of your agenda are outside your control - say, an appointment with an important client - a quick evaluation is likely to turn up several time bandits that you can restrict with a few tweaks.

Here are six ways you can add some breathing room to your schedule.

1. Track your time

You've probably heard that dieters who keep a food diary are more likely to keep the weight off or that writing down every dollar spent makes it easier to stick to a budget. That's due to the magic of a real-time inventory rather than estimating, which we're often not so good at.

The same thinking applies to time tracking. If you want to know where you can save time, you first need to know where your time is going. Try tracking your time for a week in a notebook to identify those schedule busters you didn't even know were there.

2. Don't Let Email Take Over Your Life

We've all been there: We take a "quick look" at our email, and 20 minutes later, we realize that, well, it's 20 minutes later, and we haven't done anything truly productive. Yes, email is a necessary evil. No, it doesn't have to be a constant evil. Triaging email means taking a hard look at your everyday habits. Are you worried you're a victim of "digital hoarding?" Check out Marsha Egan, author of "Inbox Detox and the Habit of E-Mail Excellence," for tips on dealing with the emails you already have and then keeping new emails at bay.

3. Ditto the Meetings

It's no secret that meetings are sometimes a waste of time. Aiming to make your meetings more productive is one answer, but there's a better solution to taming the meeting monster: Institute a "No Meeting Day," where everyone in your company knows internal meetings are off-limits and external ones as much as you can control.

Take your pick of days. Monday seems effective because you can start the week with a surge of productivity, but midweek can be a great choice too. Try this meeting-free day policy, and you'll probably find that just looking at that empty day immediately gives you a sense of peace and a burst of energy. When you need to schedule a meeting, consider doing a video conference over your webcam to spare the time of traveling to and from the meeting.

4. Schedule Sensibly to Stay on Track

As a small business owner, it's tempting to aggressively organize your day down to the last minute. But that doesn't allow for an unexpected phone call, a traffic jam, or even a printer jam. By deliberately aiming to leave as much as one-third of your day unscheduled and building in buffer times between every meeting, you'll find you can respond to these inevitable emergencies - or even just annoyances  - without knocking the rest of your day out of whack. Look for our exclusive line of TUL note-taking systems to customize your own system or select from an array of planners tailor-made to your needs.

5. Use the 80/20 Principle When Designing Your Day

We often talk about how 80% of business comes from 20% of customers, but there's another way to put that equation to work. Put broadly, the 80/20 formula (also known as the Pareto principle) finds that 20% of your "inputs" translate to 80% of the outcomes.

Small business owners are typically so busy putting out fires that they neglect the strategizing and long-term projects that will ultimately fuel their growth. Try devoting 20% of your day to those high-impact activities that are typically cast aside in favor of deadline-oriented priorities. And yes, schedule this time as if it's any other meeting, lest it gets eaten up with short-term concerns.

6. Learn to Say "No"

Remember that saying "no" to something doesn't mean that it's not a worthwhile activity or request. It just means that it's not something that you personally consider a priority at the moment. Try reframing your thinking about your time to currency to be spent. You're more likely to regard requests with a judicious eye, only choosing those that will improve your business or personal life.

About the Author 

Cathie Ericson is a freelance writer who specializes in small business, finance, and real estate.

All content provided herein is for educational purposes only. It is provided “as is,” and neither the author nor Office Depot warrants the accuracy of the information provided, nor do they assume any responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein.