Beyond the Grind: How Working Less Can Lead to Greater Success

Your career is first and foremost a marathon, not a sprint. There are no extra medals for driving yourself to exhaustion. All you get is misery, and you are oftentimes less effective than if you had just kept a sustainable pace.

I've become more and more convinced that the key to a rich and meaningful life starts by working less. And I don't mean that you have to sacrifice your family's wellbeing, or that you don't take your work incredibly seriously. But simply that for a knowledge worker, there are real limits to how much you can or should accomplish in a day.

The dailyness of your work is still essential though -- recent studies around 4 day workweeks miss the mark for me, as you still come up against limits in of fatigue and daily productivity. To me it's self evident that working days but for for fewer hours would result in the most creative output, more akin to Stephen King's schedule of working 3-4 hours 7 days per week.

I've found in myself incredible boosts in productivity and focus when I limit my working hours to a few hours per day. This allows me more time to focus on my physical health and goals, which helps me sleep better, feel my best, and create a virtuous cycle where my work hours are that much more focused and productive.

I think it's a lie in our culture that busyness, stress, and misery at work are signs that you're doing enough. To fight against that, I start by limiting my work hours to 4-6 hours per day, 5 days per week. By placing real boundaries around your work hours, you force yourself to finish quicker and prevent the work from filling up all available time.

The benefits are immense. I can be there for my family today and for years to come. I can make time for relationships and hobbies that would normally slip through the cracks. I vary my work intensity from week to week, allowing myself time for extra bursts when inspiration strikes, and allow myself to pull back when needed.

I still have to ruthlessly prioritize how I spend my time. I almost never go to company happy hours. Every night I'm in bed by 9:30. But the motivation I feel from exercising autonomy over my schedule makes it all worth it.

How would your life improve if you only had to work 5 hours per day?