Most founder interruptions are not emergencies. They are questions with known answers: what is our refund rule, who handles this customer, can I approve this. Each one costs you the question and the minutes it takes to get your focus back. Here are seven changes that reduce them.
1. Find out what you are actually asked
For one week, keep a tally of every question that reaches you. Group them. You will usually find that a handful of topics account for most of the messages. Fix those first.
2. Give every common question a written answer
Write each repeated answer once, with an owner and a date. Put them in one place that people can search. The goal is that the first move for a teammate is to look, not to ask you.
3. Move questions out of direct messages
- Ask people to post questions in a shared channel so one answer helps everyone.
- Pin the best answers, or copy them into your written answers.
- Reply with the link, not a new explanation, the second time.
4. Set office hours for the rest
For questions that need you, offer one or two fixed slots a day. People learn to batch their questions, and you get long stretches of uninterrupted work.
5. Decide what is yours alone
Write down which decisions only you make, and which belong to the team. Everything on the team side should come with a limit, such as a spending or discount cap, so people do not need to ask.
6. Turn off the noise you control
Mute channels you do not need, silence notifications outside your office hours, and keep one place where urgent things can reach you.
7. Cover the gaps when you are away
Name a backup for each area. Then ask whether the answers can be given without you at all, for example from approved written answers. AskMyStartup is an AI clone built on that idea. It is in private beta, and you can join the waitlist from this page.