Being a successful business owner isn’t just about working hard, it’s about working smart. You can improve your business productivity by leaps and bounds by mastering basic time-management skills. If you find yourself frantically scrambling to meet your deadlines, or missing them all together, here are five tips for getting projects done on time.

1. Put It on Your Calendar – Twice

If you don’t already use a calendar, it’s time to start. Humans have a limited capacity to remember, which is why successful professionals use organizers to keep track of their work flow. Every time a new deadline comes up, write it onto your calendar immediately. For deadlines that are more than a week away, write a reminder on your calendar at least a few days before the official deadline. That way, when you check your calendar each day, you’ll see reminders to get to work in time to meet your deadlines.

2. Make a Plan

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by big projects, and when people are overwhelmed they tend to procrastinate. Procrastination is one of the biggest obstacles to improving your business productivity. If you find yourself putting off big jobs because you don’t know where to start, sit down and make a plan. Begin by breaking down the work into a list of smaller, easier tasks. Now get to work – one small step at a time.

3. Schedule Time To Get It Done

Now you’ve got a calendar full of deadlines and a pile of to-do lists. Use your calendar to schedule blocks of time to focus on work for up-coming deadlines. Once you dedicate a specific day and time to work on something, you’re a lot more likely to get it done. Your business productivity will increase just from making smarter use time.

4. Learn To Prioritize

It’s surprising how many people prioritize work based on what they feel like doing rather than what needs to get done. If you have multiple deadlines coming up, start with the one that’s coming up first. Once it’s finished you can move on to the next.

5. Embrace Uni-Tasking

If you haven’t heard the news, multi-tasking is a productivity killing myth. When you try to tackle multiple tasks at the same time, you end up taking longer and performing worse on all of them. Just because you feel productive rushing around, doesn’t mean you’re actually being productive. So when you set aside time to work on a project for an upcoming deadline, focus on the project and nothing else.

If you’ve been struggling to meet your deadlines, try mastering these basic time-management skills. You’ll have fewer disappointed clients and you’ll boost your business productivity.