Earlier business notes
A shorter reading list for the questions founders carry
Three books to consider when you want to examine time, priorities and the way your business depends on you.
By Rajiv Sankarlall · Updated
A long reading list can become one more thing you feel behind on. Choose a book because it addresses a question you are facing, then leave room to try something from it. You do not need to finish every popular business book to make a thoughtful change.
These are reading options, not a claim that Raj has used each one with clients or that reading them will resolve burnout. Start with the question that feels relevant to your life now.
If everything feels equally important
Essentialism by Greg McKeown explores choosing what matters and doing less of what does not. Consider it if your commitments keep accumulating and you find it hard to decide what to remove.
While reading, keep a list of obligations you would not choose again today. Do not cancel everything at once. Pick one to reconsider, identify who is affected and work out what a responsible change would involve.
If you keep postponing life
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman examines our limited time and the pressure to fit everything into it. It may be a useful starting point if you keep expecting life to begin after the next milestone.
Bring one question to the book: what am I waiting to make time for? Choose something small enough to put into an ordinary week. A conversation with someone you care about or returning to an activity you enjoy can make the question concrete.
If the business depends on your constant involvement
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber considers the difference between doing technical work and building a business. Read it alongside a real task that repeatedly needs your attention.
Ask which parts require your knowledge and which depend on an arrangement nobody has clarified. A book can offer perspective; your company's particular constraints still need examination.
Turn a useful idea into a question
At the end of a reading session, write down one thing you want to try or discuss. Give yourself a point at which to review it. You can disagree with an author and still find a useful question in the work.
For a simple way to choose a next step, read what one point better could look like.