The longer I’m in business, the more aware I am of time. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, small business owner, or working in corporate, time is always of the essence. Time is the one commodity that you can’t get back, so how and who you choose to spend it with is paramount.

In our efforts to become more efficient and maximize our productivity, we can sometimes forget to “take the time” to go above and beyond for a customer, potential client, or even an admirer of our work, which is why I was particularly struck by a simple phrase a new acquaintance said to me today, “I appreciate you taking the time.”

We often fill our days with meetings and emails, but at the end of the day or of one’s life, we won’t remember the emails we sent but rather the connections we made along the way.

That’s why it’s of the upmost importance to always, always make the time for people. My aforementioned exchange was a 15-minute Facebook message conversation, which may lead to producing a giant passion project I’ve had for a long time. If I had been too caught up in my schedule or my meetings, it would have been easy to bypass this exchange or to write it off for more “important” or pressing matters, and I would have unknowingly completely missed out on an incredible opportunity and more importantly, person.

Of course, this doesn’t mean to throw caution to the wind and bail out on the building blocks that makes a business run, but it does offer a chance to remember that without people, there is no business.

What are your thoughts? How has your business benefited from connecting?