Daily Tasks & Prioritization
5 min read
Weekly goals set the target. Daily execution gets you there. But execution requires more than time management. It requires commitment.
The Next 10 Weeks
If you really put the right work in and prioritize ruthlessly, the next 10 weeks with Pre can make a huge impact on your startup. Not incremental progress. Real, meaningful change.
But that only happens if you commit. Not "I'll try my best" commit. Actually commit.
Deprioritize Everything Else
Startups aren't part-time things. They're all-available-time things. That means deprioritizing everything outside of your startup and your highest priorities: your family and your health.
Conferences get punted. Founder networking events get punted. Unless your customer is there and you can close them from the event, it's not worth your time.
That "quick happy hour" is only an hour, right? Wrong. Add travel time. Add the context switch out of your work. Add the time to get back into flow. That one hour costs you three. Could you have closed more leads if you stayed locked in and sent emails instead?
Give Your Brain a Break the Right Way
You need time away from the screen. But that doesn't mean you need a social event or a night out.
Take a 20-minute walk. That's great creative thinking time. That's reflection time. And you're getting movement into your body. You come back sharper, not drained.
Punt the Fun Stuff
If you're committed to the next 10 weeks and you want to make your startup successful, punt your "fun" things. Punt obligations outside of family and health.
This isn't forever. It's 10 weeks. You can do almost anything for 10 weeks if you know there's an end point.
Maybe you have a full-time job to pay the bills and only limited time for your startup. That's fine. But whatever time you have should be the maximum amount. And if you really can't spend more than 5 hours a week on your startup, it becomes even more important that you spend those 5 hours doing the most impactful work possible.
Start With Your Weekly Goals
Every morning, look at your weekly goals and ask: "What's the one thing I can do today that will make the biggest dent in these?"
Do that thing first. Before email. Before meetings. Before anything else.
The Daily Question
At the end of each day, ask yourself: "Did I make progress on my weekly goals today?"
- If yes: good day.
- If no: what got in the way? Can you eliminate it tomorrow?
Busy is not the same as productive. You can have a full calendar and still make zero progress on what matters.
Protecting Your Time
The biggest threat to your weekly goals isn't laziness. It's distraction. Other people's priorities sneaking into your day.
- Block time for deep work on your goals
- Batch meetings and calls instead of scattering them
- Say no to things that don't connect to your North Star
When You're Falling Behind
It's Wednesday and you haven't made progress on your goals. What do you do?
- Clear your afternoon
- Pick the one goal that matters most
- Work on nothing else until you make real progress
A week is short. If you waste Monday and Tuesday, you can still save the week. But you have to recognize it and act.