How do you use your time more effectively when you are a busy entrepreneur?
The more projects and responsibilities you have, the more you try to organise your time better and accomplish as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.
Not to mention when you have a family and want to make time for your personal life too.
For me, it’s:
using AI for summarisation, research, and repetitive tasks,
delegating tasks,
using “waiting time” for work, for example while waiting at the doctor’s office or during public transport travel (usually on the train).
What hacks help you stay productive and efficient?
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Replies
Scarlett.
Great question, Nika. This is definitely one of the most important things to figure out.
A few things that have helped me personally:
I’ve learned to say no more often.
If a project, idea, or even a conversation doesn’t fit into my plans, I say no. You don’t need to help everyone, talk to everyone, or start every new project that comes your way.
I work in time blocks.
There’s usually enough time for every type of task. It just needs its own block.
For example, from 7 to 11 p.m. I’m with my wife and son. They’re happy because we get proper time together, and I’m fully present.
Then, after 11, I work for another hour or two. That’s when everything is quiet and I can focus best. I’ve realized that going to bed early is hard for me, but staying up late comes naturally. So why not use that time?
Weekends are flexible.
I might work, or I might not.
If it’s extremely hot or cold outside, it often becomes a workday for me. Fewer hours, of course, but still enough to get some things done. Other weekends we travel or spend time with friends and family. But realistically, around one-third to half of my weekends aren’t completely work-free.
Use tools and people.
Delegate, just like you said, Nika. I genuinely love hiring people for things I don’t need to do myself. And for many tasks, AI is already more than enough.
Make it fun.
When you’re enjoying something, it doesn’t really feel like work. Create a fun challenge around it. Set a target, turn it into a game, or find a way to make the process exciting for yourself.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@byalexai I think you are extremely true. For me, personally, the number 1 is very difficult because sometimes I get passionate too fast, but things are going beyond my schedule and my possibilities.
Still learning to say no :)
@byalexai Same here. The most important for me is project miles are my breaks. Focus is my thing; If I cannot focus without distractions then it's break time.
@byalexai Love it, especially 5. I think it is so great to turn life/work tasks into a fun challenge, I think all adults should to it more often.
And saying no to something that is not a great fit is a right thing to do (not that easy in some cases thought)
Building a Venture backed company. Here is my cheatsheet
Focus days - context switching can kill your time - day focused on hiring, client calls, work.
Hiring on weekends - Candidates have breathing room, founders are anyways working
Building my own AI agent that does shit for me - using a service that does human in the loop helps so i don't have to babysit agents.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@shivani_poddar Why do you consider weekends as good days for hiring? Because I think that many people who are interested in work would rather do that during the work week after work and keep weekends for family (I just think)
@busmark_w_nika Great question!
As a founder - I find myself working weekends anyways, so helps to focus on that day
Candidates - love a Saturday interview, they have a second to breathe from the ever demanding day jobs and don't have to skip day jobs.
For me, it's about focusing on the few tasks that have the biggest impact instead of trying to do everything. I also batch similar tasks together, reduce unnecessary distractions, and use AI to speed up research and repetitive work. Protecting a bit of uninterrupted focus time each day has probably made the biggest difference.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@emmadagold Sounds like a good start. The thing is that many of my tasks are unrelated. So my system is a little bit worse to manage. 😅
FetchSandbox
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@rnagulapalle True, we need first to have that mindset :)
"Not to mention when you have a family and want to make time for your personal life too."
That's when I become a juggler haha
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@martin_herran Sometimes it is juggling like in a circus haha
Engaging stand-ins to substitute for you while waiting on lines virtually everywhere, including holding your slot @ doctor's offices, auto repair shops, restaurants, DMV's, ad nauseam. Depending on circumstances, you may be
able to deduct placeholder fees as they may be work related venues/projects. When I was still working, I had to
stall personal issues until nights/weekends/holidays, long before the advent of doppelgängers, AI, robots, web
based solutions, etc. Although more hectic now, there are plenty of viable "assistants" @ your vital disposals.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@bruce23 Which your favourite assistant?
@busmark_w_nika In the past, my favorite assistant was myself, since I had to multitask everything when being a field investigator. If I were on the job today, depending on my area of expertise & requirements, I
would prefer/choose a hand held device teamed with an Apple top grade wristwatch with all capabilities,
as long as my company would furnish these supplies @ their expense. If self-employed, I would carefully
select products geared for my tasks/standards.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@bruce23 of course, I love being my own assistant too because I can have everything under the control :D
@busmark_w_nika Overall, you have no trust issues since you are accountable only to yourself. Also, you save a lot of money, time, etc. not needing to hire extended personnel & equipment. You
keep going, girl!
Hi Nika, in addition to the tools that help me do tasks faster, I also review my list on a weekly basis and assess if everything there is still relevant. Seeing the whole week in one view, a fair amount of what felt urgent turns out to be optional. Managing the list has saved me more time than managing the clock.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@alieksia Did you set up any special day for that? I know that some people are doing it on Sundays.
@busmark_w_nika For me it's Monday morning, because weekend is dedicated to my family
honestly the biggest shift for me was noticing how much context switching was actually costing. used to bounce between coding, support emails and admin all day, felt busy the whole time and shipped almost nothing. now mornings are heads down building only, afternoons are anything that needs a human brain, replies, planning, stuff like this. agent handles first drafts and repetitive research in between so it's not sitting idle either.
the waiting time thing i actually do the opposite of what you said, doctor's office or train i try not to work at all. brain needs the real gap or the evening session ends up garbage anyway
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@raffay_sajjad Yeah, but I consider spending at doctor's room as the time waster; I want to do what I really want in my free time. If I wanna sleep, I go sleep (so if I wanna do that, I will work during the waiting time, and the rest of the time is mine) :)
@busmark_w_nika fair, that's a pretty different lens than mine honestly. i think i just don't trust myself to context switch back into work mode cleanly after using waiting time for it, so i'd rather protect the whole block instead of splitting it. probably says more about my focus than about the waiting time itself
This is a great topic, Nika! As a solo developer, time is my most precious resource. ⏳
My biggest productivity hack is 'Automating the Creative Process'. I used to spend hours staring at a blank screen trying to write video scripts, which was a huge time-waster.
That’s actually why I built and launched ViralScript AI today—to use AI to handle the brainstorming and scripting phase in seconds, so I can focus on building and executing.
Like you, I also leverage 'waiting time' by doing mobile development reviews on my phone! It’s all about reclaiming those small pockets of time. 🚀
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@feras_olimz But isn't the creative process good? I mean... I would rather spend time on something creative than manual and repetitive. I find the creative process very unique.
Liso
Using tools that leverage my time:
ex: minimalist phone, getliso.app, Claude etc.
There is just no shot at competing with the world without these things
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@evgeny_timofeev wow, do you use minimalist phone? NIce to hear that :)