When you own a small business, there usually aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Small business owners wear so many hats, anything that can save a bit of time is welcome. Here are six simple things you can do to give yourself a little more time to do all the things you need to do.

1. Don’t check your email too often.

A lot of small business owners check their email incessantly, sometimes every few minutes. But doing this actually wastes time because it takes your focus away from the task you were working on, and it takes even more time to get back into the right frame of mind when you’re done. To be as efficient as possible, check your email and send replies only three or four times a day. Most emails are not urgent, and if the sender really needed to get in touch, they would pick up the phone.

2. Make a daily schedule.

Time management is difficult when you play a lot of roles, but by planning out every hour of your day, you can make sure you get everything done. Sit down at the end of the day or in the evening before bed and think about all of the things you need to accomplish the next day. Then, break your day down hour by hour and figure out when you’re going to get it all done.

3. Have address labels made.

It might seem silly, but having personalized things like address labels, letterheads, business cards, and preprinted envelopes on hand saves time with correspondence. Think of how much time you’ll save over the course of a year if you don’t have to take the time to hand write return addresses on all of your business correspondence.

4. Use templates whenever possible.

If you send marketing materials or use basic contracts with customers and clients, using templates saves a lot of time. Keep a basic layout saved on your computer and fill in the blanks as appropriate.

5. Avoid multitasking when possible.

This might go against your instincts, but it’s impossible to multitask and complete anything with the same quality you would if it had your undivided attention. Stick with a single task and focus on it until it’s done. You’ll stay focused and the quality of the work will be better.

6. Delegate, delegate, delegate.

A lot of small business owners have a hard time with this, but it is truly impossible to do everything yourself. If you want your business to grow, you have to bring in the right help. This could mean hiring a trusted employee to help you with a specific area of the business or outsourcing sales and bookkeeping. This frees up your time so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Any information is not a complete summary or statement of all available data necessary for making an investment decision and does not constitute a recommendation.