Although the problem you identify is not confined to the creative world, it does seem that those of us in the design industry are likely to log a larger number of hours in work mode than the ordinary American. The most common reasons seem to be staffing issues, demands from the marketplace, or a combination of both. The fact is, whether you work at a design studio or in-house design department, you are likely to be understaffed—and overworked—at various times during the year.

Ours is a deadline-driven business and our clients—whether internal or external—don’t schedule work as far ahead as we would like. When you add into the mix day-to-day demands like attendance at staff meetings, interruptions by colleagues, client changes, and delays caused by vendors … it’s no wonder you’re looking at another 12-hour day.

There are a few things you can do to be more proactive about how your time is spent. Some solutions are relatively easy and require only a bit of discipline on your part. Other remedies involve cooperation or buy-in by others in order to be effective.

A first step in determining whether you are legitimately overworked is to make an honest assessment of how you spend your time. When you arrive in the morning do you jump right in, or are you still fumbling around getting started at 10 a.m? Do you lose time at midday by taking an extended lunch? Are personal calls, e-mails, and net surfing constant interruptions? In short, are you being honest with yourself about whether you actually are working while at work? If you believe that there are ways you can tighten up your own performance, try these ideas.

1. Keep real time. Many of us keep time sheets for billing and project tracking. For at least a week be brutally honest with yourself about where your time goes. If you’re worried about repercussions, you might want to keep a second time log in addition to the one you submit to your supervisors. You may be surprised to find how the choices you make on a daily basis affect your overall work experience and productivity.

2. Brush up on skills. Are you spending more time at work because it simply takes you longer to get certain parts of your job done? Some people are very quick at coming up with ideas, others are computer whizzes, and some are great at project management. Make an assessment of your strengths and shore up weak areas with classes or other professional development strategies.

3. Choose your time wisely. There are 168 hours in each week, but not all of them are equal in terms of the potential they hold for productivity. Many successful people are early birds: They find that time spent before their colleagues arrive is often more productive than later hours. Likewise, an hour or two on a weekend can yield a better outcome than the same amount of time during the week because you can be more focused and direct. Although the most productive time of day to work may not be the most convenient time, it can yield a payoff in fewer hours worked in the long run.

4. Seek input. If you’re truly open about how you might be sabotaging your own efforts at time management, ask trusted colleagues for their observations. Supervisors and subordinates alike may be able to help you identify time-wasting behaviors or suggest tasks you could potentially delegate. Clearly, this requires a level of trust that may not be present in every workplace, so select your allies with care. If a thorough review of your own patterns doesn’t yield the insights you’re looking for, you might look at other ways to remedy your situation.

5. Get help. An obvious solution to a time-crunch problem is to hire more people. The trick lies in hiring to meet the needs of the organization in the long term. A knee-jerk reaction is to post a full-time position immediately … but there may be other, less permanent, and potentially less expensive remedies: part-time help, freelancers and independent contractors, even interns. If you’re going this route, remember to allow for “ramp-up” time for new people; they may not be immediate contributors and could cost you additional hours in the short term as you provide training.

6. Take charge. Some time management problems are caused by the inability to say no. If you find yourself raising your hand for extra work and assignments, take a step back and assess whether you are getting a sufficient return on investment for your extra time. Similarly, if your department or firm seems to always find itself “going above and beyond,” consider being a catalyst: Raise questions about why this has become an acceptable practice. You might find your voice joined by a chorus of others with the same concern.

7. Jump ship. Let’s face it: There are a few environments where work is valued to the detriment of everything else. These unhealthy situations are characterized by a tendency to brag about how many nights and weekends a person works, or the sense that the workplace is always operating in a crisis mode. Unless you thrive in this type of setting or the work is actually that rewarding, saying goodbye may be your only chance to reclaim your life.