Most people tell themselves that they value their time.
But most people lie.
They lack the clarity to understand their values.
Or they lack the courage to spend their time on their supposed values.
These people aren't bad.
They have good intentions.
They're nice.
But when their time is up, they'll look back at how they spent it with regret.
Regret that they didn't say 'no' more.
Regret that they followed someone else's script.
Regret that they never went for it — really went for it.
Despite what words they told themselves, their actions proved that they didn't value their time very much.
I didn't want that to be me.
So I dove into all the productivity systems and apps.
My calendar and todo list were full, but my focus was scattered.
I did a lot, but I hardly got anything done.
After dozens of free trials and experiments, I got overwhelmed and quit.
Through that complexity, though, I realized that valuing time can actually be really simple.
There are just 3 rules.
If you follow these rules, it'll be impossible to NOT value your time.
Here they are:
- Say what you'll do.
- Do what you say.
- Reflect
This forces you to both clarify what you want and to take action.
Do this, and you won't die with regret.
You could use any of the popular apps to help you follow these rules — Google Calendar, Todoist, Reclaim, Motion, Notion.
You'll find they all have the same shortcoming, though:
They focus on the doing, not the saying or reflecting.
They can help you set up your schedule with time blocks, tags, todos. But they struggle to help you see how well your plan reflects your reality. They also ignore the deeper value behind each task or event.
That's why I'm building Compass.
I need a tool that helps me connect my Why to my What.
I need a tool that helps me protect both my day-to-day productivity and my lifelong dreams.
It has to be fast, beautiful, and reliable.
It has to stay around for the long term, too.
That means no VC.
No hype or rushed acquisitions.
No overhiring.
Instead, we'll focus on profit and users.
Along the way, we'll give back by open-sourcing the code and sharing lessons-learned.
Time is our greatest asset.
Let's spend it on what matters most.
—Tyler