“You can do anything— but not everything.”
— David Allen
As first-time founders know too well, there are only so many hours in the day. Taking their startups to the next level requires them to work productively — and not just be busy for the sake of being busy. To this end, we’ve developed a five-step productivity cycle that founders can use to supercharge productivity and make sure the right things are getting done.
1. Define it
Human beings aren’t capable of making the best decisions when they’re under extreme pressure. When we encounter situations that make us feel fear, stress, or anxiety, our creative abilities are diminished.
First-time founders typically have a bias towards action, fuelled by their natural ‘fight’ response to extreme pressure. However, it pays off to take a moment to be thoughtful and intentional before acting.
The first step in our productivity cycle begins with defining the problem and breaking the task at hand down into as many smaller tasks as possible. For example, if you’re looking to hire two new developers for your early-stage startup, you might break the task down like this:
Create a job description
Post the description on job boards
Ask folks in your network if they have recommendations
Interview candidates
Extend offers to the two best ones
Keep in mind that one or even both of those developers might decline your offer. In our experience, the best founders have learned not to worry about things they cannot control, and, as a first-time founder, you shouldn’t either.
2. Do it yourself
Once you’ve defined an activity, linked it to your core values, and spliced it into smaller chunks, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and jump into action.
This isn’t to say everything you encounter along the way will be easy — quite the contrary. But when you have a mission and are committed to achieving it, you’ll be ready to face any challenges you encounter along the way.
Of course, no one can do everything at once! Once you find yourself toggling too many activities — you need to serialize those activities so that you can accomplish more.
3. Date it
Consider how your day might feel if you jotted down a to-do list in no order compared to how it might feel if you serialized your schedule like this:
When you date and prioritize the activities on your plate at any point in time, your attention is freed, and you’re able to focus deeper on the task at hand.
4. Delegate it
There isn’t a startup that’s succeeded solely on the hard work and efforts of the founder. When it boils down to it, performance is a team sport. To be as productive as you can be, you need to learn when to delegate tasks to other people. There are three ways to delegate tasks:
You can pay someone to get it done
You can barter with someone to get it done
You can do a combination of both
Keep in mind that you won’t be an expert delegator when you’re just starting. Chances are you will make the wrong decisions at first. But experience will be your teacher.
5. Dump it
Just because a task exists doesn’t mean it needs to be done. For example, you might think that your startup needs to be on every social channel. But if you’re working on brand-new database technology, for example, chances are you don’t need to regularly post content to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.