I learned a lesson in a time-management seminar that has always stuck with me. The seminar leader asked us to imagine that on a Wednesday we were given an all-expenses-paid trip to Tahiti – leaving Friday morning. Chances are, he said, we would clear our work schedules and grab that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So then, he offered, why not go to Tahiti every day? In other words, end each day without a whole carload of unfinished business to worry about all night. For me, a Canadian fishing trip would be better motivation than a tropical island vacation, but the advice rings true regardless.

One of the toughest things to do in work life, especially for people who own businesses, is to keep the work from taking over. Many people about to retire say one of the biggest things they look forward to is “having my life back.”

Dedication to the job is good; in fact, it’s necessary. You don’t get anywhere in life if you’re constantly heading off on a whim to amuse yourself. Still, there is such a thing as being too tied down.

And if we think about it, most of us find the pains of overwork are to some extent self-inflicted. If we were better at delegating, if we weren’t too cheap to hire that extra part-time employee, if we weren’t such perfectionists, we wouldn’t have to wait for retirement to “get our lives back.”

Doing it now

You can learn about two good ways to get more control of your time in a book, Goal Setting: How to Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals, by Susan B. Wilson and Michael S. Dobson.

In a chapter on time management, the authors cover two all-too-common time wasters: procrastination and interruptions. The first is strictly our own fault. The second we can easily blame on others – though we have more control of it than we imagine.

Let’s look at these two problems. Procrastination, of course, means “putting off until tomorrow.” We put things off, Wilson and Dobson argue, because they are somehow overwhelming, difficult, unpleasant, effort-intensive or unrewarding – or some mix of these. Here are some of their suggestions for getting off the dime:

• Ensure that the task is really a priority. If not, take it off your to-do list.

• Break the task into its component parts. “This way, it is more manageable,” the authors state. “Begin by working on just one part of the task.”

• Use a 10-minute strategy. “You can commit ten minutes of effort to almost any task. And ten minutes is enough to get you started. If after ten minutes you feel that you must stop, then do. But you may find that you want to keep going after the initial plunge.”

• Reward your effort. Give yourself a small reward for getting started. “Remember one of the principles of human nature: We continue to do those things that are rewarding; we stop doing those things that are not.”

Getting derailed

Of course, you can stop procrastinating and still get knocked off course by interruptions. In these days of cell phones, pagers, e-mails and text messages, it can be harder than ever to focus on the task at hand. There is a fine line between keeping yourself accessible to your team and being so accessible that you spend all your time responding to calls and messages and not doing the things you had planned.

One simple but critical fact to remember is that your office has a door and your cell phone, computer and pager have off switches. Wilson and Dobson observe that many interruptions are the result of decisions you make. “Each time you do not say no – that you pick up your telephone, open your door, or don’t communicate that you are busy – you make a decision to be interrupted,” they write.

One cause of interruptions, the authors note, is the open office door. When someone appears in the doorway, they advise, ask about the reason for the visit and find out how long the person thinks it will take. If the person needs more than, say, 10 minutes, suggest a scheduled meeting. Here are some of the authors’ other ideas for safeguarding your time:

• Do not accept interruptions from people someone else can take care of.

• Don’t invite drop-in visitors to sit down.

• Establish a policy of encouraging employees and colleagues to schedule appointments when possible.

• When you take phone calls, avoid social conversation, and put a time limit on the call. Develop language you can use to end calls politely.

Following this advice may not get you to Tahiti on a regular basis, but it will help you make your days more productive and your business life more rewarding.