Do you sometimes find that you’ve spent hours of your business day working hard yet seemingly accomplishing nothing? It may be that you need to restructure how you spend your work day hours. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your time.

1. E-mail on a schedule. Resist the temptation to check your e-mail incessantly. Instead, plan to check 3 or 4 times a day. Set aside a small chunk of time when you check to respond to urgent e-mails.
2. Take a break every hour. If you stare at your screen too long, you’ll start to get drowsy and work slower. Plan to get up and walk around the office or the building every one or two hours.
3. Don’t keep comfortable chairs in your office. Beware of having extra comfortable seating in your office because your co-workers will likely come in often to sit down to chat. Try keeping a small side chair or folding chair in your office. People will be much less likely to stay and shoot the breeze if they have to sit in an uncomfortable chair.
4. Keep cool. If your office is warm and stuffy, you’re more likely to feel tired and work more slowly. Keep the office temp cool or bring a fan if you need to.
5. Avoid the afternoon sugar crash. Around 3 p.m. when that morning coffee has finally worn off, most of us experience a sugar low. Bring an apple to work to stave off the afternoon slump.
6. Send calls to your voicemail when you’re working on a big project or when you’re working on a deadline.
7. Prioritize your tasks. Many times, we choose the easy & unimportant tasks first because we don’t want to deal with the bigger ones. Instead you should make a list in the morning of the most important things to get done and then work on them first.
8. Allot segments of time for each task. Allotting a specific amount of time will help you to stay on task and motivated. If you have a competitive nature, you may enjoy pushing yourself to accomplish your timed tasks.
9. Take a real lunch break. Don’t work through lunch. Get out of the office and take a break so that when you come back you are ready to make the most of the afternoon work hours.