Is Time More Important to an Entrepreneur?

My 9:00 a.m. meeting was postponed for a few hours due to icy roads all between Omaha and Des Moines. This gives me an opportunity to write my weekly blog. How often when we get unexpected free time do we wile it away on less productive activities? I know I do it far too often. In many cases this is ok after all we all need some down time.

Over the years, one thing I have observed about successful entrepreneur is that they nearly always use these little segments of “found” time to accomplish something that might otherwise go undone. I’m not sure whether this trait is due to the enormous number of tasks they have on their “to do” list, whether it’s that most are ADHD and can’t stand the calm or some other personality trait.

It’s not that they don’t allow for down time, but they schedule the downtime for family and friends, for exercise or for reading. So many have told me, “Oh, I don’t watch TV.” or “I don’t have time for video games or chat rooms.” From a mental health standpoint perhaps it’s better to have an hour or two in front of the “boob tube” or tweeting. I just know successful entrepreneurs just don’t. Instead they jump into action.

I think part of it is that they love to do many of us hate. They love the challenge of e making that cold call. They aren’t dissuaded by rejection because they know they are right and will prevail, whether or not they truly are. They hate the boredom of keeping books or developing policy. They are after all entrepreneurs, not administrators.

They are a combination of dreamer and doer. Too many of us are one or the other. Not that the combination of doer and dreamer is enough. There must be a balance of passion and discipline. There must be some business knowledge and a willingness to take risk. It appears to me that perhaps there must also be a feeling of urgency - A feeling that every second must be optimized. Do you have this trait? Is it absolutely necessary to be successful? Let me know what you think.