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Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator, famously wrote "a program" to analyze the difference in response time between Y Combinator's best and "worst" CEOs:
I wrote a little program to look at this, like how quickly our best founders — the founders that run billion-plus companies — answer my emails versus our bad founders. I don’t remember the exact data, but it was mind-blowingly different. It was a difference of minutes versus days on average response times.
The email response time is a common Silicon Valley obsession. Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, famously wrote in 2014:
most of the best — and busiest — people we know act quickly on their emails, not just to us or to a select few senders, but to everyone.
So should we all drop everything and build AI agents that help us respond to email instantly?!
Of course, this is a clear case of correlation vs causation. If we all started answering emails immediately, we won't be CEOs of BILLION dollar companies (please remember me if you do)
But there is a deeper trend here: notice how it's always the elite who preach the "always on" mindset. Why, I wonder? Could it be to keep me working harder to make them richer?
The "always available" mindset has permeated the Muslim community, especially new entrepreneurs who are influenced by the "move fast and break things" Silicon Valley thinking. But AI now makes "always available" much worse. As agents now write emails, comments, slack messages, etc you can never stay ahead. In fact, the more you reply, the more responses you will get.
Waking up at 5AM to get ahead of your day won't cut it anymore because by 5:15 you are already behind.
Emails that arrived overnight. Customer service tickets in the queue. The "Asia team" flooding you slack with messages, etc.
You haven't even started your day, and it already belongs to everyone else.
Here's the spiritually intelligent reframe:
Our attention is no longer a matter of "time management". In the age of AI, protecting our attention is a matter of sovereignty.
We've confused availability with value.
Response time with responsibility.
Accessibility with achievement.
As I have said many times before, AI is the new colonialism. Big AI colonizes lands in the Global South to build campus-sized data centers. It colonizes data-labeling workers by paying them less then $1/hr. It colonizes the Internet by gobbling up anything and everything that is created to train its models without any consent, credit, or compensation. But more importantly, AI colonizes our minds from hacking our attention spans to making us believe AI is inevitable.
We must regain our independence from capitalism and AI.
We need to regain our sovereignty.
The Divine Model of Boundaries
Allah created the universe in six days, then established His Throne. Not because He needed rest, but to model rhythm, boundaries, completion.
Even creation has structure.
The Prophet ﷺ had specific times for specific activities. Prayer times were non-negotiable. Family time was protected. Solitude was scheduled.
He PBUH led an entire civilization while maintaining complete sovereignty over his time.
The Availability Trap
"I'm always available" sounds like dedication. It's actually abdication.
When you're always available, you're never fully present.
When you respond immediately, you train people to expect immediacy.
When you have no boundaries, you have no sovereignty.
The most successful executives aren't the most available. They're not answering emails at the speed of thought. They're the most intentional.
The Three Levels of Sovereignty
Level 1: Reactive Sovereignty
You control your responses, but not the requests.
You manage what comes at you, but don't determine what comes.
This is where most executives operate: sophisticated reaction rather than sovereign action.
Level 2: Protective Sovereignty
You create boundaries. Block time. Limit access.
You protect your time from intrusion.
This is better but still defensive. You're guarding rather than governing.
Level 3: Creative Sovereignty
You don't just protect time. You create it.
You don't just manage requests. You eliminate their necessity.
You don't just control your calendar. You design your life knowing who ultimately controls it (hint: not your boss or shareholders)
This is true sovereignty.
The Sovereignty Protocol
Starting tomorrow, implement three non-negotiables:
The Morning Sanctuary: First hour belongs to you. No emails. No news. No requests. Your time for prayer, reflection, planning. This isn't preparation for the day. It IS the day. Everything else follows.
The Response Rhythm: Check messages three times daily. Period. 9 AM, 1 PM, 5 PM. The urgent will call. Everything else can wait.
The Evening Boundary: Work ends at a specific time. Not when you're done - you're never done. Not when others stop needing you (hint: they never will). At a time you determine and honor.
The Power of No
Sovereignty isn't about doing everything efficiently. It's about not doing most things at all.
Every yes is a no to something else.
Yes to that meeting is no to deep work.
Yes to that partnership is no to focus.
Yes to that new client is no your existing clients.
Most executives are drowning in yes. Sovereignty requires mastery of no.
The Jummah Principle
Friday prayers are obligatory for Muslim men. Non-negotiable. The world stops.
What if you treated other commitments with Jummah-level sovereignty?
Your morning routine. Your family dinner. Your strategic "alone" time.
Not squeezed in when possible. Protected as sacred.
The Multiplication of Sovereignty
When you model sovereignty:
Your team learns boundaries. They stop expecting immediate responses and start planning better.
Your family gets presence. Not leftover attention but your high quality primary focus.
Your work improves. Sovereign time produces exponentially better output than stolen moments.
Your health stabilizes. Boundaries create rhythm. Rhythm enables restoration.
Sovereignty means addition by subtraction. You create more, but strategically (and faithfully) doing less.
The False Emergency Culture
We've created a culture where everything is urgent.
Every email is marked high priority.
Every request needs immediate attention.
Every opportunity might disappear.
But here's the truth: 99% of emergencies aren't.
They're just other people's priorities dressed as your obligations.
The Prophet's Priority System
Someone once asked the Prophet ﷺ which deed was best. His answer changed based on context:
To one person: "Prayer at its proper time." To another: "Kindness to parents." To another: "Jihad in the cause of Allah."
Not because he was inconsistent. Because sovereignty means choosing what matters most in each moment, not trying to do everything always.
Your Sovereignty Audit
Track your time for three days. Then categorize:
- Chosen: Activities you deliberately selected
- Requested: Activities others asked for
- Reactive: Activities that just happened
If Chosen isn't at least 60%, you don't have sovereignty.
The Sovereignty Statement
Write this and live it:
"I am sovereign over my time. I choose my priorities. I protect my boundaries. I am available by intention, not default. My time is not for taking but for giving, and I choose where to give it."
Post it where you'll see it daily.
The CEO Who Reclaimed Sovereignty
A CEO I advised was working 80-hour weeks. Always available. Never present. Got things done, but was miserable.
We implemented radical sovereignty:
- No meetings before 10 AM
- No emails on weekends
- No calls during walks
His assistant predicted disaster.
Instead: Impact increased. Decisions improved. Innovation accelerated.
Because sovereignty creates space for what matters.
The Quranic Declaration
"Say: Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds" (6:162).
Your time is your life in measurable form.
Who owns it determines who owns you.
Who owns your time? What would change if you reclaimed sovereignty over your most valuable asset? Reply to this email and let me know
May Allah's Peace be with you,
James
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