Excellent timing. I&#x27;m just coming out of one start up that is now up and running successfully and about to launch another. I wish I&#x27;d had some of this advice with my previous company.<p>When we were first setting out I tried to micro-manage everything and while I got things done I nearly burnt out in the process. Assigning roles and responsibilities and holding people accountable to them is an infinitely more sensible approach to management!<p>It&#x27;s also very easy to be busy when you&#x27;re running a company. Too easy in fact, and equally easy to work on the wrong things. So  to combat this I now follow these steps:<p>1. Identify a goal that contributes directly to useful output (e.g. shipping a product to actual users, making a sale, etc)<p>2. List the steps necessary to reach this goal.  Make sure the steps are listed sequentially and that each step is actually necessary to achieve the next one.  Eliminate &quot;nice-to-have&quot; steps or &quot;targets of opportunity.&quot;<p>3. Do those steps, and postpone everything else.  If some other tasks starts nagging on you, just put it off and tell yourself that you can do that after you finish the sequence of steps.  Don&#x27;t ignore it, just postpone it.  Tell yourself that you are going to do it later.<p>As a result I now find myself less distracted by work that doesn&#x27;t contribute to our big goals.<p>* Steps are from <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.quora.com&#x2F;What-are-some-ways-to-work-smart-rather-than-just-working-hard" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.quora.com&#x2F;What-are-some-ways-to-work-smart-rathe...</a>