What do you do if your productivity and time management skills in Venture Capital need improvement?

When faced with the challenge of boosting productivity and refining time management skills in Venture Capital, one effective approach I've found is to regularly assess my workflow and identify areas for optimization. It's crucial to leverage tools and techniques that align with the dynamic nature of VC, such as prioritizing tasks based on impact and staying adaptable to evolving market trends. Additionally, seeking mentorship or collaborating with peers who excel in these areas can offer invaluable insights and support. Continuous learning and refinement are key to thriving in the fast-paced world of VC.

Venture is an industry that demands seemingly endless time. It’s not uncommon to feel like you aren’t being productive enough or need to manage time better. You can always engage with more companies, delve into other new industries, work harder to close deals quicker, or invest more time supporting portfolio companies. Yet, your time and resources are finite. Prioritisation is essential. PortCos should be the top priority, no matter what, followed by committed deals and then late-stage diligences. For everything else, adapt find the downtimes, like using slower periods in summer, and catch up on tasks that were previously set aside, such as formulating a new thesis.

My schedule productivity methods: 1. Kill the to-do list. It trains us to get a dopamine rush from checking off to-dos. Naturally, we end up gravitating toward the easy ones first and avoiding those that require long timeframes. 2. Everything goes on your calendar. If it’s not on the calendar, it’s not getting done. Allocate time appropriately. Bonus: you get better at estimating time commitments from this exercise. Double bonus: you realize you can get a lot more done than you think in short, focused timeframes 3. Schedule time for thinking. Like a lot. 4. Schedule time for deep work and big projects. Consider breaking big projects into bite sized chunks

What are you best at, that no one else in your org can do better? What adds the most value to you and your various stakeholders? What brings you joy and/or a feeling of accomplishment? Do these and outsource/delegate everything else.

Productivity and time management is at the mercy of two factors. 1. Your micro management style (or not) 2. Capability of your team. There are just too many lose ends in the investing business. Sourcing to gauging to investing to managing. Good operating partners and staff with ability to understand supply chains of businesses are the key to higher productivity.