One of the things I’ve noticed is that when life is busy, it’s much easier to get distracted from the key priorities.

We’ve been office-less since the beginning of April as we wait to move into Edinburgh’s exciting new incubator TechCube .

I thought I’d really enjoy the process of having some space from the office. I’ve always work out of the office on Fridays (mostly in Loudons because it gives me space to think and reflect better. But now it’s become the norm, it’s a different story.

I’ve felt much more like I want to shoot for quick wins. I feel more disconnected, so I’ll check email and twitter more, and ultimately at the end of the day, I’ve felt unsatisfied with how the day went and what I achieved.

I once heard someone say that a good definition of stress, was a “perverted relationship with time”. As I said at the beginning, there are so many things to be doing, it can feel as if firefighting is the only way to exist in a startup.

While this is sometimes simply unavoidable, I think just sitting down and reconnecting with why we’re doing this, where we’ve got to, and a longer term view of where we need to go next, really make all the difference.

By putting things down on paper and prioritising them, and choosing a manageable amount of them to do today, this week, this month and the next few months, it can bring a focus back, that means the important stuff gets done.

One of the weird things about startup world, is that it always feels like others are jumping ahead, releasing things faster, or getting more acclaim. But in reality building a business that will last, that pays wages, that is a good place to work, takes time, and is just a case of keeping chipping away at it. Understanding investors, understanding your customers and market, understanding your team… take time and can’t happen overnight. Being in it for the long haul and realising how far we’ve come in a year, and where we’re going to be in 5 years bring a big shift in perspective.