Pick your few priorities each week
On a to-do list with forty items, it is hard to see what is important. Each week, choose three things that would make the week a success. Plan time for them in your calendar first, before you plan anything else. Most weeks have room for only a few real priorities.
Keep blocks of time for focused work
Important work needs a block of focused time. Reserve one or two hours for it, free of email, notifications and meetings. In such a block, you often get more done than in a whole day full of interruptions.
Group your admin tasks
Admin tasks such as invoicing, bookkeeping and replying to non-urgent emails take up the whole day if you spread them out. Do them in one or two fixed time slots per week. You then spend less time on them in total, and the rest of the week has more room for other work.
Set fixed working hours
Entrepreneurs with open-ended hours often work constantly and get little done well. Decide when you work and when you rest. Clients usually adapt to clear boundaries faster than expected, and your energy lasts longer.
Know when to stop working
The seventh hour at a desk is usually far less productive than the third. If you stop at the right time, you often get more done by the end of the week than if you keep going regardless.
Plan tomorrow before today ends
Spend five minutes at the end of each day to plan the next day. This can save you an hour of hesitation the next morning. You start the day knowing exactly what to do first.
Related articles
See also Exit Options for Dutch Business Owners, Dissolving a Dutch BV in 2026 and Selling or Closing Your Business in the Netherlands.