I Worked 80 Hours A Week And Still Fell Behind

My Biggest Productivity Mistakes as a Founder (If you’re building something, you might relate to these.)

When I started, I thought working more hours meant getting more done. It didn’t.

I wasted time on the wrong things. I burned myself out. I learned the hard way.

Here are the biggest mistakes I made – and what I do differently now.

I kept looking for the perfect app to organize my work.

Notion, Asana, Trello – I jumped from one to another, thinking the next one would fix everything.

It never did. The real problem wasn’t the tool. It was me.

Now? I stick to one platform and focus on getting things done, not switching tools.

Early on, I said yes to every meeting.

I wanted to be helpful. I wanted to stay informed. But most of those meetings didn’t lead to real action.

Now? If a meeting doesn’t have a clear reason, I skip it. More time for real work.

At first, I thought every new request was an opportunity.

A new project? Sure. A small side task? Why not. Helping out just this once? Okay.

I spread myself too thin and didn’t make real progress on anything.

Now? I ask myself: Does this really matter? If not, I say no.

For too long, I refused to hand off tasks.

I thought, “I’ll just do it myself – it’s faster.” But all those little tasks added up, and I had no time left for big-picture work.

Now? If someone else can do a task even almost as well as I can, I let them.

I used to think that working late meant I was doing a great job.

But I was just wearing myself out. My energy dropped. My focus slipped. I made mistakes.

Now? I measure my progress by what actually gets done, not how many hours I spend working.

Being productive isn’t about doing more.

It’s about doing the right things.

When I finally figured that out, my work got better, my stress went down, and my days felt lighter.

Which of these mistakes have you made?

P.S. If this helped you, share it so others can learn from my mistakes too.