Business owners are busy people. It takes a lot of work to succeed in running a company, and that often means schedules packed with conference calls, e-mails, business lunches and company meetings. All of those responsibilities add up to a lot of busy-ness, but too often thwart productivity.

Many people think that a full schedule is the same thing as productivity, but that’s rarely the case. Too often business owners and employees alike spend several busy hours putting out fires and responding to e-mails before ever getting to the first task on their to-do lists.

Even worse, many people don’t realize they are doing it. They assume that because they are busy they are being productive. They often go home feeling like they haven’t accomplished anything but can’t identify what they’re doing wrong. Here are a few tips for combating busy-ness and staying productive.

Let the e-mails pile up. Busy people answer e-mails immediately; productive people answer them consistently. Keeping up on e-mail is an essential part of the work day, and you should definitely be prompt in your responses, but you don’t have to be a slave to your inbox. Let the e-mails roll in while you’re working on your tasks, then take time for e-mails every day at the same time. This will prevent e-mails from distracting you as you work on long-term tasks.

Eliminate distractions. This is more easily said than done, but distractions can cost you hours of productivity. If you find yourself falling behind on your tasks, take some interruption-free time. Your co-workers will respect your wishes if you close your office door and put off conversation for a few hours to get caught up, and it will feel good to have lingering tasks completed.

Simplify. Busy people complicate tasks until they spend hours on something with little to show for it. Productive workers put the necessary effort into projects but make ideas simpler and concepts easier to implement. While a busy person might spend several hours working on the intricate details of a project, productive people focus on perfecting core concepts. Focusing on the essential and letting other things go will help you stop being busy and start being productive.