The Invaluable Resource of Time

There is nothing more valuable than your time. If you’re a startup founder that becomes even more important, especially if they are lean, mean and bootstrapped.

When you’re starting things from the ground up, you have to be exceptionally focused. Coincidently, as your brand grows, there will this polar pull that grows exponentially faster than your project growth and is focused on pulling you from your focus by attacking your time.

Distractions Come in Varying Forms

Today, things are really hard because distractions don’t only come in the way of emails and phone calls, they are exasperated by social media platforms and our own psychological challenges, like FOMO (fear of missing out). In other words, we can be our worst enemies with our own time.

When you’re starting something, protect your time. You don’t get it back, and it’s the one thing that will effect more important things later.

Here are a few things to consider:

• It’s ok not to check email every day (except those connected to support);
• It’s ok not to check social every hour (consider removing it off your phones, and even work laptop);
• It’s ok to say “no” to a podcast, conference, webinar (they rarely pan out, in terms of top of funnel impact, the way you think they will);
• FOMO is an illusion, you’re not missing as much as you think you are;

Take Control Of What Matters

Every time you allow someone, something, to pull you away from your focus, to consume some of your time, you are allowing them to dictate the terms of your forward progress. Be sure that you’re ok with this.

Remember, it’s never just that 15 minutes of coffee. It’s the break of concentration. The Break of forward momentum. The time to get back into the mental groove when you’re done. For me, the impact is always 2x minimum of what is being requested and I have to weigh if that impact is worth it.

This is especially important during the early days, months, years. At some point you will be beyond the startup phase and will have all the time in the world to join all the sessions you want to exclaim to the world your grit and perseverance and how you accomplished what you did.

But in the interim, take control of your time.