Stop Procrastinating! Are you burying yourself in busywork to avoid really starting your business? These 10 tips will help you change your attitude--and get going.

Call it what you like. Procrastination. Fear. Necessary preparation. Regardless, the fact is that many new business owners fall into the trap of spending days, weeks and months staying "busy" without actually doing business. Designing business cards and setting up spreadsheets are just some of the tasks that, though necessary, make it tempting to put off doing business. After all, it's more fun to choose fonts than to make cold calls.

It's true that starting a business requires a certain amount of preparation, or as Robert Spiegel, author of The Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to the Best Home-Based Businesses, prefers to call it, "pencil sharpening." Luckily, we're here to give you 10 specific ways to move past pencil sharpening and put those pencils to work.

1. Make a List
Making lists is a common denominator in businesses that have moved forward during the startup phase. "People take time-management classes and use various electronic tools, daily planners and software, but all these tools essentially [help make] lists," says Spiegel. "Having a list [is] the most important way to keep procrastination away."