No, seriously—put a value on your time.
The first time I heard this (and had to teach it to others), people thought I was crazy. But think about it: time is finite. We all have 24 hours in a day and anywhere from 8 to 16 hours to work.
Strive for more
Pounding away at late-night emails on your 14th consecutive work hour may sound productive, but I would challenge that.
The same way I challenge my employees when they send an email at 10 p.m. Instead of thinking, “Wow, that person is engaged,” I should be asking, “How can we better prioritize their time?”
If they’re working 14 hours, something in their day-to-day tasks is off.
This isn’t scalable or sustainable.
Believe me, I’ve been there. Maybe you’re there right now.
Sure, if you’re in the early stages of a startup, crazy work hours are normal. But as you’ll learn in this chapter, how you value and use your time is crucial.
Complexity score (and why):
Score: 2/10
Value your time. Start by figuring out your figurative hourly rate.
This will help you realize the cost of meetings.
For instance, if you’re spending 80% of your time in meetings, ask yourself, “Is this 2-hour meeting really worth $1,000?” If you’re unsure, the answer is probably no.
Studies show that:
48% of employees report being productive less than 75% of the time (Wrike, 2024).
Employees spend 60% of their work time on low-value tasks (Asana’s Anatomy of Work Index, 2024).
The best way to combat this is to overhaul your meeting strategy.
If your team (and you) are stuck in meetings all day, your business won’t grow as fast as it could.
How to implement
While it’s not the most complex tool, implementing this strategy might require some serious internal communication. But the payoff is huge.
Get my detailed step-by-step guide in “The Effectivity Playbook”
The playbook also includes an audiobook so you can learn on the go and implement a meeting strategy. Here’s some more information about the book:
How do you manage your notifications? Hit me up in the comments! :)
Talk to you soon 👋
Casper
I built these startups to help you:
The Effectivity Playbook: My toolbox with the 20 most popular effectivity tools (incl. implementation guides)
First Book ai: Write your first book in days, not years, with our AI platform (used by +300 authors)
Effectivity coaching: Helping business leaders and teams reclaim 50% of their time in just 30 days
Follow my latest work on www.casperbrix.com
—If you enjoyed this post, please tap the Like button below 👇 Thank you! ❤️