On average, people spend about 45 minutes to a full hour a day waiting. You’re waiting for your employees to round up for a meeting. You’re waiting for your boss to make his rounds. You’re waiting for the delivery guy, in line for lunch and the list goes on and on. Just think back to today and how many times you had to wait for something, even if just for a few minutes.

Those minutes rack up into months, sometimes years. Add to that estimate that you spend a good third of your life at work. However, business owners know that there is no scrimmage line between life work and play when you’re running your own business.

For this type of person, the busy business owner, it becomes imperative to squeeze the juice out of every available minute of free time – and these apps will help you do just that. On an additional plus side, they’re such creative apps that they will surely inspire you to think outside the box…which is another must-have trait for any successful business owner.

IBlueSky – You probably haven’t heard of “mind mapping.” It’s what you do when you’re creative and connecting thoughts: A subject comes to mind and a sub-point follows it. Nanoseconds thereafter, you’ve thought of a tangent point. This is mind mapping and it’s done by just about everyone. IBlueSky (which goes for just under $10) helps people do this better and track their thoughts without having to rely on memory and a breadcrumb trail of sticky notes.

Going beyond just keeping track and making the most of your time, the Daily Tracker app helps you get a grip on your habits. This is pretty much a must-do for everyone, especially with New Year’s around the corner – but if you’re a small business owner you know that time and money are your most valuable resources. With Daily Tracker you can instantly keep tabs on yourself rather than having to jot it down later (if you even remember). Daily Tracker has a planner, a to-do list, notes, an expense list that’s accompanied by a sum alongside the header, keeping you updated on your current tab. You can even use it to keep track of how much you’ve slept – which may sound odd but if you’ve just ditched your day job for your own dream, then the freedom to sleep in is your number one enemy and time-waster. Daily Tracker also runs at just under $10.

They say the best ideas are often presented on napkins. I’d say this is pretty much true and goes back to my point that innovators are constantly thinking. When your next idea pops to mind, you can take advantage of Napkin Genius to jot it down. This app is best for visually oriented people, like graphic designers, interior designers, etc. It’s also really handy to use as a quick tool to communicate an idea to a colleague or client…and at $1.99 it’s completely affordable.

In addition to these note taking and annotating applications, there are Evernote and SOHO, which I discussed in a much earlier blog. Regardless of what specific app you currently use, any successful entrepreneur has a personal calendar/planner system in place – and Diacarta is a pretty popular one among the app community.