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The comment I hear most frequently from business people is that they feel stressed at work are they are constantly playing the game of "catch up." But there are ways to get it all done without being overwhelmed. You are probably thinking, "But you don’t understand the phone never stops, on the spot decisions, immediate tasks." But I do understand and these are sadly the realities of business.

However, a little preplanning and goal setting can help ease the daily pressures and allow you additional time each day; as much as an hour - and relieve a whole lot of stress. It boils down to you being more in control of how your day goes, and not being controlled by the situations that hit you.

Start by Identifying and writing down your goals, both short and long term. You may have already done this several times but do you ever accomplish them in a timely manner?

The next step is to schedule your time. The question is then, how do you plan your time to accomplish goals when you are under the gun with crises, deadlines and interruptions? Start with a daily "to do" list, which identifies the uncompleted tasks required to meet each goal.

Next, prioritize those tasks in order of which must be accomplished first. We sometimes are so caught up in the urgent matters of the day that we fail to schedule time to undertake the important tasks that will lead us to our goals.

Set aside some time each day to address these tasks, take about an hour of quite time to work out your tasks and to plan. Find the most creative and productive time for you and use this time wisely. Let phone calls go to voice mail to be returned later. This time should be treated as an appointment and treat as any other business commitment you may have. It gives you the sense of being in control of where you are going, and that you are taking the positive steps to get there. If circumstances arise that infringe on your quiet time, and surely at some time they will, reschedule for later in the day. You will soon realize the importance of having this quiet time.

Take 10 minutes at the end of each day to plan for tomorrow. Identify and prioritize tasks that are necessary to reach your goals on a daily "to do" list. However, be careful not to commit every minute, but allow flexibility for the unexpected and urgent events that surely will occur, and it also allows you to reschedule your quiet time if necessary.

After putting these steps in place you will be surprised at how less stressful your day will seem and it stands to reason that the less stressed you are the more productive you will be.