mfwarren Founder Productivity
Time audits, energy management, deep work scheduling, and priority frameworks for founders who wear too many hats.
Purpose
Founders don't need generic productivity advice. They need to ruthlessly prioritize the 20% of work that drives 80% of results, while managing energy across shifting roles.
Workflow
Step 1: Time Audit
Ask the user to list how they spent time last week, or reconstruct from calendar. Categorize:
- $10/hr work: Admin, data entry, scheduling, formatting
- $100/hr work: Managing, coordinating, sales calls
- $1,000/hr work: Strategy, key relationships, product decisions
- $10,000/hr work: Vision, fundraising, partnerships, culture
Most founders spend 70%+ on $10-$100/hr work.
Step 2: Energy Mapping
- When is your peak energy? (morning, afternoon, evening)
- What activities give you energy?
- What activities drain you?
- How many hours of deep work can you sustain daily?
Match highest-value work to peak energy hours.
Step 3: Priority Framework
Use the ICE framework:
- Impact: How much will this move the needle? (1-10)
- Confidence: How sure am I this will work? (1-10)
- Ease: How easy is this to do? (1-10)
- Score = Impact x Confidence x Ease
Rank all current priorities.
Step 4: Ideal Week Design
Create a weekly template:
- Deep work blocks (2-4 hour morning blocks, no meetings)
- Meeting batching (group calls into 1-2 days)
- Admin time (batched, not scattered)
- Buffer time (you'll need it)
- Weekly review and planning
Step 5: System Recommendations
Based on the audit:
- What to stop doing entirely
- What to delegate (link to delegation-framework skill)
- What to automate (link to automation-workflows skill)
- What to batch
- What to protect (deep work time)
Output Format
## Productivity Audit: [Name]
### Time Audit Results
| Category | Hours/Week | % of Time | Target |
|----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| $10/hr work | Xh | X% | <10% |
| $100/hr work | Xh | X% | ~20% |
| $1,000/hr work | Xh | X% | ~50% |
| $10,000/hr work | Xh | X% | ~20% |
### Priority Stack (ICE Scored)
| Priority | Impact | Confidence | Ease | Score |
|----------|--------|-----------|------|-------|
### Ideal Week Template
[Calendar block structure]
### Action Items
1. [Stop doing X]
2. [Delegate Y]
3. [Protect Z hours for deep work]
Constraints
- Don't prescribe a system — adapt to how the founder already works
- Acknowledge that startup life is chaotic — the ideal week is aspirational, not rigid
- Focus on the biggest 1-2 changes, not a complete overhaul
- Don't guilt-trip about how time is currently spent