Make your workday more efficient, and maybe even squeeze in some extra time for fun, with “14 Simple Ways to Get Considerably More Done” from Inc.com contributor Jeff Haden. If you’re already working on overdrive, you might have to get a little creative to squeeze some extra time into your busy schedule. Start by trying to implement at least a few of these suggestions.

1. Eliminate one ego commitment. Do you have any activities that you do more for your ego than for results? Something that you do mainly because it makes you look important, smart, or cool? Perhaps serving on a certain committee or club. If it has no other value, go ahead and cross it off your list.
2. Create a happy shelf. Surround your primary work area with things that make you happy (i.e. family pictures or favorite trinkets). Happy usually equals productive.
3. Stop looking for that extra 10 percent. Think about the law of diminishing returns. Don’t put in substantial extra effort for minimal improvement. Sometimes good is good enough.
4. Craft your “just say no” elevator speech. If you’re a business owner or leader, you probably get plenty of propositions. While you don’t want to automatically deny everything, make sure you know how to say no in a natural way, as to not end up saying yes just because you don’t want to seem rude or unfriendly.
5. Eliminate one “fun” commitment. Sometimes you just do things because you’ve always done them. If an activity doesn’t that doesn’t have any value other than fun – and it’s not even that fun – consider dropping it.
6. Set limits. “Pick a task, set a time limit, and stick to that time limit.” Haden writes. At first you may feel like you’re not getting everything you “need to” done, but over time you’ll most likely adjust to the deadline and make the task more efficient.
7. Rework your nighttime routine. Take a few minutes each night to get ready to hit the group running in the morning. Make a list, make notes, review information…it’ll save more time tomorrow than it will cost tonight.
8. Rework your morning routine. “Pretend you’re an Olympic sprinter and your morning routine is like the warm-up for a race,” Haden writes. Don’t ease your way into the morning – get up and get going.
9. Rework one repetitive task. Think of a task you do everyday. Now deconstruct it, try to make it more efficient, and actively work to do so. Even if you only save five minutes, five minutes every time adds up.
10. Eat one meal differently. Try to make one meal a day more efficient. Bring something healthy you can eat at your desk, take 10 minutes of refueling and recharging, and get back at it.
11. Outsource one task. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. For some tasks in your personal life, like mowing the yard, the time you save may be worth the cost of paying someone to do it. The same logic applies in business.
12. Fix the one thing you often screw up. Is there one thing that you always mess up? Perhaps losing your car keys or putting off dealing with certain emails and forgetting about them. Fixing that one thing will greatly increase efficiency over time.
13. Rework your commute. You might not be able to shorten your commute, but you can make it more productive. Think about how schedule and how you’re going to attack it. Listen to a podcast or audiobook. Get some phone calls out of the way. If you do it now, you won’t have to do it later.
14. Pick one task during which you won’t multi-task. Research shows that multi-tasking doesn’t work. Start with one important task and turn everything else off while performing it. Odds are, you’ll do it better.

Click here to read the article from Inc.com.