I hear this constantly from leaders and CEO’s. "I just don't have the time to learn AI right now."
Then I find out they're out golfing every Tuesday and Thursday. Or scrolling Instagram for an hour before bed. Or both.
Start here. Go to your iPhone settings. Screen Time. Click "See All App & Website Activity." Look at your top five apps.
If Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook are sitting in those top spots and you do not see a single AI app in your top three or four, it is time to make a change.
Delete them. Just delete the apps.
I do it myself. Regularly. I like Instagram. There is fun stuff on there. But it is wasting my time, so it goes.
This is about prioritizing your time. You are a CEO. You would not be in that seat if you were not a laser focused machine. It is time to apply that same focus to your own life. Get rid of the stuff wasting your time and make room for what matters next.
The next thing CEOs ask me: "Can I just outsource this? Who's a good person to pay to figure it out for me?"
Go look in the mirror. That's the person.
You have to lead this. You have to be hands on. Think about it. If you did not understand how the internet worked 20 years ago, your company probably would not exist today. This is the same thing. Same magnitude. Same consequences for the people who sit it out.
If you hire someone to figure out AI for you, expect results in five years. If you do it yourself, 12 to 18 months. That is not a guess. That is what I watched happen across my own companies.
Here is what happens when you actually sit down and do it.
A CEO friend called me last week. He runs five companies. Busy does not begin to describe his life. He had an idea he had been thinking about for three years. His development team told him it would take months to build.
He sat down one evening from 6 to 9 PM and built it himself.
Three hours. One session. Something he had been waiting three years for.
He called me the next morning and said, "Kathy, I could not believe my eyes. We have to take advantage of this moment."
That is what is on the other side of blocking the time.
This is not about learning AI. It is about doing AI. Block three hours. Cancel one round. Put the phone down. Sit with Claude or ChatGPT and solve an actual problem in your business.
This comes down to prioritization. You make time for your family. You make time for your health. You make time for the things that matter. Your business is one of those things. AI is not optional anymore. It is a part of running your company.
The leaders who figure it out early get to keep their lifestyle, their hobbies, all of it. The ones who don't will have all the free time in the world.
If you want to be living the quality of life you are living today, you need to figure out how to use this stuff.
Trade one tee time for three hours of hands on keyboard. Make it a priority. Make it a habit. Make it fun.
If it is not on your calendar, it will not happen.
Kathy