How to Focus While Growing a Business

As entrepreneurs, we often want to do everything - start more businesses, develop more products, write more blogs and books, create more keynote presentations. I find myself thinking every Friday morning "where did the week go?" and wishing that it was Wednesday again so I'd have two more days to get things done.

So here I am again - Friday morning with coffee in hand. I've been working since 7:30am and can't name one tangible thing I've completed. I have about five excel spreadsheets open, about 45 open tasks in Outlook and a list of messages on my notepad that need to be returned or dealt with today.

I made a pact with myself to make this weekend a 'weekend of organization.' I will go back to my old ways of scheduling and prioritizing so I don't fall out of the loop when I'm overwhelmed with too many things to accomplish. Here's my plan:

Schedule Tasks by the Time of Day I do them Best
I can't write creatively during the day. There are too many distractions. I know that my writing needs to be completed after 8pm at night when my mind is free and there are no distractions by phone and email.

Schedule Social Media Breaks
Many people do this for email as well. As a publicist, I can't risk missing an email from a reporter that needs a source within one hour, so email is a MUST all day. Social media is a different story. I need to start checking Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/Savor the Success/Speakersite once per day.

Schedule Time for Business Growth
I spend the majority of my time working for my clients - which is a necessity since they are so wonderful to pay me to get things accomplished! In addition, I'm also developing products and trying to develop the infrastructure to actually sell those products.

Schedule Columns and Blogs
I currently write a regular column for the Newark Examiner and write a blog for Savor the Success as well as this blog. My column and Savor blog should technically be updated 3-4x per week and this blog should be updated 4-5x. Where do I get all of this content or have time to write it all? I keep an idea file for blogs and columns that I refer to frequently. I also post queries on HARO and Profnet for my column to help with content for stories. These should all be scheduled or even written ahead of time for posting throughout the week.

What are your favorite organization and time management strategies?