The infinite to-do list

(Editor’s note: Jason Cohen is founder of Smart Bear Software. He contributed this column to VentureBeat.)

As a start-up owner, there’s always more you could be doing. No matter how hard you work, it always feels like you’re falling behind. Worse still: Every time you cross something off the to-do list, you add three – or ten – more things.

After seven years of running my company, I can tell you this: It never gets easier. There is simply no way to get everything done.

But I can tell you this too: it doesn’t matter.

When I started Smart Bear, I constantly fretted over the things I should be working on. There was always one more feature I need to add to get one more customer; one more change to the website that might increase trial downloads; one more AdWords variant that could increase click-throughs by another 0.1 percent.

I worked too hard and (of course) didn’t make a dent in the to-do list. My wife, herself a successful chef and self-made businesswoman, would say “There will always be an infinite amount of work, so why not just stop for today?” She was right, but usually I kept on.

Even today, with 15 employees, we still have an infinite list of things to accomplish. Our marketing to-do list currently has eight items marked “Number One Highest Priority Must-Do Super-Critical.”

What we fail to realize, though, is that it’s often not necessary that it all be done.

Businesses – even yours – have no correct timetable. That’s like saying your kid should be potty-trained by now when every kid is different. You’re measuring against a yardstick that doesn’t exist.

Instead of worrying about the enormity of things that need to be done, concentrate on getting a few concrete ones completed. And realize that sometimes procrastination is a lot better than prioritization.

But what about those other people that seem to have boundless time and energy? Those people who find the time to create software, visit customers, create amazing blog entries, travel, give lectures and stay current on industry trends, all while also managing the mountain of time-consuming trivialities that plague small businesses?

Yeah, well, they’re not as prolific as you imagine.

Take Jeremiah Owyang whose blog Web Strategist is popular enough to attract scores of comments and Delicious links on almost every post. How does he have the time while also working full-time for Forrester Research? His words:

“How do I Keep Up?” This is one of the most common questions I get from folks, or a variant: “Do you sleep?” or “Do you have a family?”

I can answer succinctly: “I don’t, in shifts, and yes? I think.”

I’ve dedicated my life to how the web helps companies connect with customers, it’s something I knew I wanted to do for many years, I’m lucky I fell into my passion. It comes with costs however, I’m out of shape, stressed, I don’t sleep well, and my blood pressure is up.

Keep in mind, Jeremiah doesn’t even run a startup, but the example is still valid. The chaos he endures trying to keep up to date as an industry expert is very similar to what start-up owners go through. There’s always too much to do.

That’s OK, though. In fact, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Start-ups are evolutionary creatures that don’t care one bit about your schedule or how many items are left on your to-do list.

But here’s the secret: Often, things blow over when they don’t get done – and it frequently turns out that they weren’t as critical as they seemed when they got put on your to-do list.

Accept that success is not predicated on doing it all. Maybe tonight you can sleep a little easier.

Image by Dave-F via Flickr.