The real reason founders struggle with time
 
Last week we polled a group of Founders and CEOs on what they were finding most challenging right now.  The number one issue?  Time.  Leaders rarely lack ambition, instead they lack stopping points.  They can end up doing many things, poorly. 
 
We often think founders struggle with time because they have too much to do.
But perhaps the deeper challenge is that entrepreneurial work has no natural boundary.
 
There is always more.  Progress is a demanding dance partner.   No one is telling you to go home, that you have done enough.    There is a constant tension to build the future whilst remaining present in your life today. 
 
The issue is rarely hours. It is permission. Permission to stop, to delegate, to evolve, to hire, or simply to be something other than work.  Productivity alone is not success; it is just busyness. 
 
A few years ago, I was called up for jury service.  I had to clear two full weeks in my diary.  The day before they cancelled the case.  I suddenly had the joy of those two empty weeks.  Except it did not turn out like that.  I started clearing the backlog of work.  It took the whole two weeks.  I had no idea quite how far behind I was.
 
This is far from a question of catching up in a couple of hours on a Sunday night.  This is often a full reset.
 
The first job is not about clearing email but defining your own version of success.  What are the four or five areas of your life that matter to you?   Who are you are is bigger than your role at work so make sure at least half of these areas reflect this.  Think ahead to 6 months’ time or a year, what would great look like in those areas. 
 
Next recognise that this does not have to be a solo ascent.  It may feel counterintuitive to invest precious time in scoping out job roles or finding the right person to help.  Without it though you will remain stuck in an ever tightening spiral. 
 
How can AI help you and others around you?   Are you investing the time to really understand the potential of this technology.  How do you use AI to leverage your own precious time into all areas of your life, not to just allow you get more done.   What can you delegate to AI?  Time invested now will more than pay back in the next months.
 
Demands from your business are increasing, your capacity is not.   Try the 33% test.  Take a red pen to your to-do list and cross out anything that someone else could do, even if they are not currently part of your organisation.    Then cross out anything that is not important.  Every time I run this with a client, they reduce their list by at least a third.
 
How do you think about pacing yourself?  I recently did some work with the coach of the Olympic Pentathlon team.  There has been a big shift in how athletes train.   There is much more time spent in a lower intensity heart rate zone called UT2.  This is training at a level where you can still have a conversation.
 
The idea is that by training more regularly in this zone injuries are fewer.  Strength and fitness builds up in a more sustainable way and crucially to a higher level.  What might your UT2 zone look like for work?
 
Finally let’s remember that you manage what you measure. So, what might your key measurements be to enable you to stay on that front foot?  For me it is a clear plan for the week/ month/ quarter.  An inbox with less than thirty emails and one day a week with no meetings so that I can write and expand.    When that is all in place I have a sense of flying.   
 
Perhaps the real entrepreneurial journey is not learning how to do more with time but learning what deserves our time in the first place.
 
(Based on my article for the Herald which you can read in full here: https://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=86773674-acc4-4d5f-b42a-7ddf94a187aa)