If, like many business owners, you find yourself working too many hours a day and too many days a week, the ideas below may help you get things back under control.

Prioritise – Categorise the things on your do-to list so you can focus on the right things. You can best do this on a grid with urgency at the top, and important at the side. Urgent and important things should be considered for delegation, or think how to avoid them becoming urgent in the future. Urgent and unimportant things can be thrown in the bin. Working in the ‘important but not urgent’ space is where the magic happens (and the stress doesn’t!).

Delegate – You chose the people in your team, so you should be confident that they can do what you need them to. Alternatively, consider bringing in a contractor who can help clear the workload and get you back on top. They may also bring fresh ideas and a new perspective to the mix.

Learn to love your diary – “All work and no play” as they say. We have all put off personal commitments such as catching up with friends or going to the gym in favour of doing more work. These things are important in keeping you mind and body working at their best. Booking these things in the diary or joining groups can help ensure that we don’t get bogged down in the stress of running a business.

Technology should help, not hinder – ‘Always on’ technology such as smartphones are supposed to make life easier, but that isn’t always the case. Spend some time thinking about what is hurting your productivity (and not making life any more enjoyable) and try and pick up some new pieces of tech that will do some good. Being able to automate any routine tasks (particularly if delegation isn’t an option) will massively boost what you can do.

Do what you love – Many businesses are started in a flurry of nervousness and excitement, but often this excitement gets overshadowed by mundanity. If you do what you most enjoy, you’ll do a better job and cut down some of the stress. Work isn’t your life, but it is a part of it, so make sure you’re making the most of it.

Another thing you can do is to work on your business is a more rounded way, working out the pieces that are silently dragging you down and make the most of your strengths. Start by finding out your Value Builder Score and how you stack up in the 8 key drivers of value at https://tlaservices.co.uk/get-your-value-builder-score/