I scheduled too many things today. Mondays are for thinking and writing, and I knew I had a lot to think about and at least one thing to write about. But two calls had slipped into my schedule. No, that’s not true. I said “Yes” to two calls today. That would have been OK, but…
Every calculus problem was like a brain teaser. There was always a trick or method that could simplify this big, messy equation — I just had to find it. As the class progressed, I learned more and more “tricks” to solve “messier” equations. It felt like magic and I was becoming a wizzard! But here’s…
“A busy calendar is a death of creativity.” ~ Naval Ravikant When Naval was running Angellist his calendar was booked end to end with meeting after meeting. Everyone who’s run even a small enterprise knows what kind of meetings these are. CEOs are in meetings to either make high-stakes choices between uncertain options or deal…
I was at a holiday party last month, and it was full of agency owners. As I walked through the crowd, I must have heard this snippet of conversation a dozen times. “How are you?” “Oh, I’m so busy, just slammed. It’s really overwhelming…” Each time I heard it, I got more disturbed. Why do…
In the last three years, I’ve worked with several founders who made their businesses smaller, intentionally. Their businesses had grown in ways that became a burden. For some, it was generating the work to cover everyone’s salaries. For others, their size created a firm that was no longer a fit for the work they loved…
Once your priorities are clear, getting your calendar to align with those priorities is the next step to getting your work done. One way to start reshaping your calendar is to wipe the slate clean and create a template for an ideal week. By starting with a blank slate, you can schedule your most important…
Last week we talked about focusing on your job, the things that are only yours to do. When I see agency owners getting clear that they start to get free of many tasks that were draining energy from them, and that didn’t move the agency forward either. Theoretically, that should free up a lot of…
You and your team may have different ideas about what coming “back to the office” should mean, but I think we can all agree that our offices will be different going forward! The new office rules If we’re bringing folks back into the office, there are some ground rules that I’d propose for making the…
The power of saying no in business and as a leader is huge. It helps you to focus on what is important as a leader and for your business. In fact, saying no in business is imperative.
Most of the owners I work with are fully identified with their businesses. The business is their life, their identity. When the business is going well, they are euphoric; when it’s going poorly, they are despondent. The success of the business is their success, and any failure is their failure. Without their efforts, the business…