Matt Blumberg describes the French fry theory: founders always think they can handle one more task, one more email, one more request. He spent years overcommitted before learning to say no as his company grew.
Chapters
My best friend from college, Seth, has something that he calls the French fry theory, which I've written about on my blog and in my book, which is basically that you're never too full to eat one more French fry. There might be a moment where you're too full to order another plate of French fries, but you're never too full to eat one more French fry. And work is frequently the same way. As a founder or a startup CEO, there's always one more task you can do. There's always one more request that comes in. There's always one more email you can send. It was very difficult for me for a long time to manage the French fry problem and get to a place where I could actually just start saying no to things periodically instead of consuming one more task and one more to-do.