If I tell you that to have the business you are dreaming about or be a high achiever, you need to work between 60 and 80, even 100 hours per week, what type of emotions does this set off?
- Anxiety: “I am already working 40 hours and it drains me. I don’t have enough time or energy left, to work on my business in my spare time.”
- Depressive thoughts: “There is no way I can work so many hours without burning out. Does that mean I never get to achieve my dreams?”
In this article, I want to share with you a time management concept that has helped me enhance my productivity without increasing my anxiety or fatigue.
This concept has had a major impact on the way I do my work, and I believe it will change your perspective on work as well.
It’s like an unwritten rule that many successful people and high achievers follow.
Who is this for?
What types of people will find this information valuable?
- Employees who want to become high achievers at their workplace.
- People that want to leave work at work and enjoy time with family.
- Entrepreneurs who want to increase their results without burning out.
- Those of you who want to start a business while keeping a 9 to 5.
Have you wondered how some people (entrepreneurs, business owners, and high achievers) constantly put in 60 or 80, or even 100 hours of work per week? Whereas most people, after a 40-hour work week, need time off to replenish their energy?
One might argue that talent is what pushes them and makes the difficult work less onerous. To some extent, this is true.
But talent is something that you’re born with, and it’s not up to you to have it. Work ethic on the other hand, is a habit, and like any other habit, it can be developed.
If you pay attention to people you admire, you’ll notice that they rely on their work ethic rather than talent.
Yes, it’s great to have talent, as it helps one to achieve one’s goal faster.
But talent is overrated!
Talent only represents the potential of what you might become and nothing more. It’s up to you to capitalise on it.
Therefore, talent is capitalised on by hard work.
Don’t let your Ego stop you from putting in the work.
Hard Work vs “Smart Work”
When we hear that some people work between 60,80 even 100 hours per week, we cannot help but feel anxious.
(I know I did when I first heard it.)
We ask ourselves: is this workload required if we want to be successful? Working long days, weekends, not going out?
There is Smart Work and “Smart Work”.
Unlike the majority of people, the successful ones understand the difference between quality and quantity of work. As a result, they get above-average results and work more hours without burning out.
But people on Social Media and Internet Bros say that it’s easy. And it must be true since they show off with the proof (usually cars, houses, some luxurious location, boats, or whatever). But in the vast majority of cases, the “proof” that you see, is hired.
4 hour work week?
Because of that, conflictual thoughts are born: we know that to have a successful business or be financially independent, we need to put in an insane amount of working hours. We’ve seen this working for many people, and there is no denying that.
Now, however (because of what some people promote on social media) we are inclined to believe that hard work is obsolete and that there is a NEW SMART WAY to being successful that not only is much easier and faster but also requires less work. Yay.
Many people today have unrealistic expectations. These expectations stem from a lack of patience and understanding between the time and effort it takes to have notable results.
The internet and especially social media are full of buffoons promoting a lifestyle of working just 4 hours a day, and a couple of clicks are what it takes. Buy a course from them, run some ads for your product, and voila: money pouring from the sky, and you’re financially independent.
That is BS.
These “shortcuts” are keeping you away from true success.
It not only sets you up for failure but failing to meet up these unrealistic expectations, will lead to depression and anxiety.
The idea of working around 20 hours a week is enough to build a legit business that puts you on the path to financial freedom is ludicrous.
There are always opportunities, challenges, and problems that demand attention, and rest assured that it takes way more than 20 hours per week to tackle them.
The key to big results without mental exhaustion
Having said that, how do you bring yourself to constantly working 60 to 80 hours per week?
And even if you power through and work 60-80 hours per week, sooner or later, you’ll find yourself drowning in the sea of work and your anxiety level going up.
So how do these people do it?
It’s necessary to understand that not all work is equal. There are two types of work:
- Deep work (focused activity): This type of work requires your absolute focus and includes tasks such as writing, coding, doing research, and any cognitively demanding duty. This type of work is not only meaningful but yields more rewards. You can allocate between 2 and 5 hours of focused work per day.
- Shallow work: Tasks that you can complete while being distracted. These tasks don’t generate any value and don’t require a lot of skill. They are a commodity.
Here’s something you might not know:
Deep work generates shallow work.
A session where you focused intensely on a problem, is followed by a time spent where the solution is put into practice. This means delegating work and dealing with possible ramifications.
There is a time window when cognitively demanding tasks should be tackled for maximum efficiency:
- Structured time: This is where you divide time into groups and conduct your deep work. By having organised time in your schedule, you focus on tasks that have a high impact. Normally you would do this in the morning when the mind is clear and energy levels are high.
- Unstructured time: where maintenance-type work takes place. Is when you deal with shallow work: emails, phone calls, meetings, and everything in between.
When you focus for 1 hour on a task in the structured time section, you get 1 hour’s worth of productive work. In the unstructured time section, however, things change.
Being constantly interrupted and task-switching between various tasks, your efficiency plummets. As a result, 1 hour of productive work output will not take you 1 hour but 3 or even 4 hours.
The ratio of productive work performed during structured and unstructured time is as follows:
- 1:1. It will take you 1 hour to output 1 hour of productive work in the structured time section.
- 1:3 or 1:4. It will take 3 or even 4 hours to output 1 hour of productive work in the unstructured time section.
Example of how deep work generates shallow work:
- Let’s say that you own a business. After a session of intense focus (deep work), you concluded that some processes within the company could be streamlined for increased efficiency. This involves you holding a meeting where you explain the idea and assign work to employees. Needless to say, while working on the assigned tasks, the team will inevitably run into some issues. In turn, these issues require your attention and more (of your) time to fix them.
And so, focusing on critical tasks in the morning followed by maintenance work (phone calls, emails, and everything in between) during the day is how you keep your mind clear and avoid burnout.
Here’s a cookie, for staying with me 🍪.
Conclusion
The reason why people that work 40 hours per week feel more anxious and exhausted than those who work 60 or 80 is the following:
The former deals with tasks as they arise and throughout the day (unstructured time). While the latter focuses solely on critical tasks first (during structured time) and deals with “urgent” matters later in the day in the unstructured time.
Although it may look like a rigid system, give it a try. Stick with it for some time. Write down what works and what does not. Tweak it to your preferences so you get the most out of it.
You will not only get more done, but your stress level will diminish, and you’ll notice a boost in creativity. By not letting yourself be distracted, you develop a habit of being able to focus for longer periods, and as a result, you’ll sharpen your problem-solving skill.
Remember that the purpose of the system is to help you.
Let me know what you think via a message on socials or by Email.
Later,
D