The editor of one of the publications I write a monthly post for recently asked me how I was finding time to consistently write for them and share my expertise with other publications, despite being a busy entrepreneur.  I found it was an interesting question considering three years ago, I had almost turned down the offer to write for them because of time constraints.

Here’s how I’ve made it work, and how you can do it too:

1. It starts with being clear about your goals and how you’re going to achieve them.

On this occasion, my goal was to increase the visibility of my business.  After listing all the options I had to achieve this goal, I decided to focus on getting articles published. I already had a blog, but writing for this publication was allowing me to drastically increase my reach. I decided to go for it.

2. Consolidate all your professional and personal commitments in one place.

Once this activity had become something I wanted to undertake, I found it a place in my schedule.

Indeed I treat all my activities and tasks as commitments and allocate them a place in my schedule. Having all my professional and personal commitments consolidated in one place allows me to see at a glance whether my workload is manageable on any single day.

3. Be realistic about your work capacity.

I typically plan for no more than five hours of real work in an eight-hour workday. The rest is a buffer to deal with emails, phone calls, digital distractions, die-hard habits such as procrastination or perfectionism, as well as the unexpected – such as a client having an urgent request, a task taking much longer than anticipated, or a sick child at home who needs to be taken to the doctor.

4. Develop a good understanding of the time it takes you to complete a task.

I always add a time estimate to each of the tasks I put on my to-do list.  Otherwise it’s very easy to end up with more than what I can handle in one day.

If I struggle to give a time estimate, I break down the task into small parts that are easier to quantify. Also as there’s often a discrepancy between how long we think it takes to complete a task and how long it actually takes, I’ve timed myself on several occasions when performing regular tasks so I could be more accurate.

5. Learn to say no.

Time is finite so we have to make decisions on how we want to use it. It’s not because I’ve put a task on my to-do list that I will necessarily do it.

On those days when I have more on my to-do list than I can handle, I’ll be looking at each of my tasks and decide whether to delete it, delay it, diminish it or delegate it so I can create time for what’s really important.  Asking myself whether a specific task will help me achieve one of my goals, or by saying yes to it, which other task I am saying no to, help me make decisions and streamline my workload.

6. Build self-awareness about your relationship to time.

Over the years, I’ve paid attention to the part of the day when I’m the most energetic so I can do tasks that require a lot of focus during that time. I’ve also taken note of the attention span I have for various tasks, the distractions that are likely to derail my day, the reasons I procrastinate etc. so I could find solutions to address them. This translates into increased productivity.

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