Tim Ferriss says that staying “busy” is actually a form of laziness. Being perpetually busy is the same as being sloppy with your time, which is ultimately a form of laziness. Deciding to just “work really hard” means you’re not putting in the work of figuring out how you can actually run your business effectively.

Telling yourself “I’m going to work 10 hours every day until I get to where I want to be.” is a lot easier than putting in the work to figure out how you can run your business smart. Answering questions like “How can I not work myself to the bone?” and  “How can I make my time work for me instead of being a slave to time?” is harder.

It’s easy to confuse activity for productivity. Let’s trade lots of activity for a smaller amount of intentional, thoughtful work. Push back against the culture of busy.

3. Stop acting like an employee of your own business.

You are the boss. Even when you feel like you are too young, too inexperienced, or “TOO WHATEVER”, you’re the one in charge. So, act like it. When you run your business strategically and manage your time well, you can create more time for the things you love. Quit trading an hour of work for an hour of free time. Actually manage your own schedule. Plan your day. Do the harder thing. Because yes, whether or not you realize it, just sitting down and working until 10 pm is EASIER than planning your day. Quit choosing the easy option, choose the strategic option that actually will get you the results you want.

So, ask yourself on this one — what ways do you act like an employee? Are you acting like there’s someone else out there with the plan and vision for your business, so you don’t have to do all of that?

4. Use tools to get you there.

Managing your time well doesn’t just happen on its own. You need tools and resources to get you there!

My favorite tools for managing my time right now are my High-Performance Planner, Powersheets, To Doist, and Toggl. They all rock and work together beautifully.

Here’s how I use each:

High-Performance Planner: I use this on especially full days to schedule out my day, hour by hour. There are also morning and evening mindset questions that will help you stay focused on the BIGGEST goals in your business, not the little pointless tasks. I also love that it’s un-dated so you can start using it whenever, and skip a day on the weekends or other times when you don’t need the intense structure.

Powersheets by Cultivate What Matters: I use Powersheets to set my big goals for the entire year, and then smaller goals for each month, week, and day. Like the High-Performance Planner, this tool keeps me focused on the bigger goals! [Read more about why I love Powersheets here.]

ToDoist: This is a free computer/phone app that lets you make tasks list. You can make lists for things you want to do that day, or keep rolling categories for other things you need to remember! ToDoist especially helps me lately when I get distracted about something off-task. For example, I’m working on a client project and I remember “Ah, I have got to buy light bulbs!” and then I just quickly add that to my “To Purchase” list and get back to what I’m doing.

Toggl: Have you ever really looked at how you spend your workday or exactly how many hours you’re putting in? It can be EYE OPENING. I track my work each and every day using the free tool, Toggl. In Toggl, you can set up clients and projects and add descriptions for each work session you do. I can differentiate between my time spent on a specific client project and my time spent writing blog content for my own business. I can see how much time each week I spend in meetings and how much time I spend building websites.

Another tip about using tools: Don’t chase “shiny new tools” constantly. You could listen to a thousand podcasts and everyone will suggest something different. Try something and stick to it for a while. Then, only if that isn’t working, try something else.