Is your To-Do List a mile long and you never seem to get to the important stuff? If you are an accidental entrepreneur, there are great books to help you get on purpose fast. As an entrepreneur book author, I was interviewed recently about this very topic.

Try this exercise to discover how you are actually spending your time:

For one week keep a daily record of what you do from 8am to 7pm.

• Jot down actions in increments of 30 minutes. For example: 12:30 - 1:00pm--travel to networking luncheon; 1:00 - 2:30pm--Attend luncheon
• Don't forget to include time spent for things like: meeting with clients, getting ready for a meeting, follow up calls, reading and sending email, walking the dog, grocery shopping,
• Keep track of exercise, time with kids, family and friends, in short, everything you do in a day.

At the end of the week, review your daily activities. Look at any patterns.

• Are there obvious periods of procrastination?
• Too much time spent on unimportant details?
• Overscheduling so that you miss or don't have enough time for important appointments?
• Write down the time wasters on your list.

Did you know that one of the biggest issues of small business owners is procrastination? One recent client discovered that she was actually wasting 2 hours a day doing small, unimportant tasks, writing emails, or driving all over town when she could have organized her deliveries to take less time. Rethink your daily to do list and you may find out that you can actually streamline your work time so you are twice as productive.

The benefit is--you have time for the rest of your life!

Tags: time management | women entrepreneurs