I don’t know a single small business owner who hasn’t felt overwhelmed and exasperated at one time or another because the demands on their time are out of control. It’s not uncommon to feel like there will never be time for OUR plans because we can barely keep up with all the stuff that gets thrown at us.Yeah, same.Here are 5 levers I pull when I feel stretched thin:Do a time audit to figure out how much time is actually yoursIt can be so easy to overestimate the amount of time you actually have available to advance your plans. The formal version of this would be to take a week or two to track the way you spend your time. A simpler and more accessible version would be to review your calendar from the last couple weeks and determine how much of your time was actually available for YOUR priorities. This is an opportunity to get real about how you use your time.Practice saying NOThe time audit will reveal your current capacity along with opportunities to delegate, defer, or delete work. You WILL have to say NO to some things if you want to create additional capacity for yourself. NO can mean you can’t do it, but someone else can. No can mean you can’t do it now, it will have to wait. No can mean it’s just not important, goodbye.Complete high-priority work BEFORE you let the outside world inYour priorities aren’t really priorities if you don’t put them first. They are just things you’d like to do if you ever get around to it. The best time to tackle YOUR priorities is before you let the rest of the world in. What would be different if you leveraged the first 30-minutes of your day for most valuable work? Select ONE non-negotiable tasks each day and complete it no matter whatInstead of negotiating the infinity of tasks on your to-do list and feeling like a failure for not making more progress, just pick ONE thing you will absolutely commit to accomplishing each day. What is something valuable that you could accomplish today? How good would it feel to set that intention and actually get it done? You’re free to do more if you can, but if you can’t, no worries you’ve already done what you promised you would do.Plan your weeks in advanceThe biggest game changer for me has been blocking time for my priorities. Every Friday I look at what I accomplished during the week, what matters most as I head into next week, and I block time on my calendar to make it happen. You might not be able to schedule 3-hour blocks for progress, but I bet you could sprinkle 15-, 30-, or even 60-minute blocks throughout your week to focus on your plans.OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTION: Find ONE item on your calendar or to-do list to say NO to. It’s time to swap stress and overwhelm for calm, focused, and effective days. My brand new Mastermind is launching soon and will help you to clarify your goals, identify your priorities, and invest your time, energy, and focus strategically so that you can accomplish more with less effort. Join the wait list today!