Y combinator has produced the fastest-growing startups on the planet. One of the most important tactics they teach founders is how to spend their time. Because time is a scarce resource, you can raise more money, but you cannot raise more time. So spending your time well can be the difference between a mediocre and a great startup.

In this article, we’ll look at the highlight of what they teach. Then we’ll show how you can prioritize activities with Soon so you can reach your goals faster.

How to Prioritize Your Time

Divya Bhat explained in YC Startup School 2022 how to set your KPIs (key metrics), and how to prioritize your time. The recording is not available till later this year. In the meantime here is an older recording on the same topic by Adora Cheung.

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Previous YC Talk on How to Prioritize Your Time

Highlights on time

• Time = Money = Your runway
• Spend your time well to maximize your chance of success
• Plan in great detail what you’ll be spending your time on

Two most important tasks:

1. Talk to Users
2. Build product

Talking to Users helps you:

1. Convert users to customers to generate revenue
2. Understand if you’re on the right track
3. Figure out your roadmap

Putting this in practice

As Divya and Adora both mentioned, what it comes down to is start Time Blocking your day.

What is Time Blocking

Time Blocking is a practice where you set aside a specific amount of time to work on a single task. Focus on work that helps you make progress towards your primary goal. 

How to Time Block with Soon

Pro tip: Press "s" to increase speed - or click the 1x in the bottom right of the video

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1. Create events to represent your working hours

2. Create two activities to fill in your working hours

3. You can add more to also track other things you spend time on

4. Schedule your day

5. Review with your team at the end of each week

Improve your time allocation for the next week

Review your progress at the end of the week 

Use the Weekly Updates feature in Startup School.

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Maker’s and Manager’s Schedule - by Paul Graham