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Life, and therefore getting things done (especially as a startup CEO) is all about setting priorities. The number 1 priority always somehow gets done, regardless of what it takes. And there are things that one "should" do, and never does. But then there are also the hybrids, the ones that start out as unimportant back markers, and then move up the ranks over time, predictably so. It's funny to observe how you absolutely know they are there, how you see them coming, getting closer and closer, how you know they will become critical at some point, because you have been there before, and how you still manage to find something "better" to do up until the very last minute. They feel like that heating pipe in your basement that you only fixed provisionally with duct tape on a summer weekend and meant to get repaired for real before the cold season starts. It's always on the back of your mind as summer comes to an end and fall approaches, but, well, "tomorrow" will do as well.... As time goes by, you live more and more in denial, you start getting anxious to the point where you are simply angry with yourself for not taking care of it while it was still easy, hassle-free, inexpensive, and non-pressing. In the end, you find yourself in a situation where something becomes your number 1 priority not because it is per se important, but only because you have no other choice but to make it happen on that very day.. "Again?" is the question you ask yourself when you finally dig through all the documents you need for preparing that damn corporate tax return on the 14th of March. "Really?" goes through your mind when you start packing a bag for an upcoming trip 2 hours before you have to leave in the middle of the night. And as frustrating and senseless as it might be, it seems to be one thing above all: human. As a startup founder, I have come to appreciate that in the end it doesn't matter how you got somewhere; the only thing that matters is that you made it. |