How I Conquered Multiple 100 Hour Weeks In A Row
It was another 100-hour work week.In fact, it was the 5th one like it in a row.
I didn't think it was possible before I did it. How could it be?
At a 60-80 hour work week, you sacrifice the extras. You sacrifice things like social engagements, lunch hour, TV, and weekends.At an 80-90 hour work week, you sacrifice the basics. You sacrifice things like exercise, time with your family/partner, and the last of any personal time left.At the 90-100 hour week mark, you sacrifice the essentials, like sleep.Seems ridiculous to only have 5 hours of sleep per night for 5 weeks in a row, right?It is.
But there's so much more work to be done!
Does anyone else have a voice in their head that says this??Sometimes you can't work smarter. Sometimes the only person who can get it done is you!Guess what?
There is always an infinite amount of work.
If you are obsessed with social impact and making continuous improvements, you'll never get to a place where you've done enough work to stop working.Even if you somehow are the 1% of people that figure it out, if you're like me, you'll get bored really fast.
So, give up that idea.
Even retirement can stir up the urge to volunteer or be helpful in other ways.
The mantra of living a productive life focused on social impact is about being happy with the pace and intensity.
It's up to you to constantly push the comfort zone of your own intensity and pace. This means that if you're constantly pushing your comfort zone, you're never really in it.I think you get the point.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
You will not grow strong enough to achieve your dreams without internalizing this belief.Understand your needs for rest, relaxation, re-focusing and whatever else you need. It's your responsibility to understand yourself and take care of your needs.It's your responsibility to understand how much sleep you need to avoid making excessive, stupid mistakes.It's your responsibility to understand how much you can take on to maintain long-lasting productivity.It's your responsibility to understand your weaknesses and discomforts so you can conquer them and grow stronger.
2 Minute Action
What's a part of your job that makes you feel really uncomfortable?What's something you really are not looking forward to doing today?What's something that you've been avoiding for some time?You guessed it. Make it happen.You've got 2 minutes to set up the conversation, push the button, or ask that embarrassing question.Everyone has 2 minutes to take action.
Why Messing Up Helps (It’s Not Because You Learn From Failure)
Yes, I make typos.
Yep, I splice commas all over the place.Yeah, I end sentences with prepositions and incorrectly use the semi-colon.I’m not trying to be perfect, because a habit of perfectionism can consume a lot of time.
I’m trying to get the point across quickly.
I’m trying to do what’s essential and then move on.Doing all the extra stuff can be nice but it has to be worth the consequence of time and energy—and that part is up to you.
2 Minute Action
I call this 2 minute action out everyday because by thinking small and consistent, we can build really huge things.Whats taking up 80% of your time or causing 80% of your pain right now?Focus on that first and don’t solve anything else.What we we found out in software development was that when we fixed some part of the software over here, some other part would break over there.By fixing one thing at a time, we didn’t spend too much time fixing stuff that didn’t matter or that wasn’t a priority.So think of your top time waster, soul crusher, or pain maker. Maybe you can’t solve it in 2 minutes but you can take the first step in 2 minutes.Go for it. Schedule the call, set the agenda, but the plane ticket, commit to the work, create the user story, text your father, whatever it is.One at a time.Drip. Drip. Drip.
Everything That's Holding You Back In 60 Seconds
There's something calling for your attention.It's asking for something important, that you value.It's asking for your time and your focus.It's asking for your energy and your intention.It's asking for those precious limited resources we have.
It's everything.
Well, it's everything but what's important.What's important and urgent deserves your focus and energy.What's important and not urgent also deserves your time and intention.It's those non-essential things, which makes up most of what's out there, that will take up 80% of your resources.
You can't do everything.
So choose what is essential to your life.Yes, you can choose to do this--most people won't.Most people will let their lifestyle inflate to consume their income and then complain that they need more income to pay for their lifestyle.But not you, you're smarter than that.The same goes for work and personal habits.You get to choose what's essential and how to focus your time.Yes, you can.
2 Minute Action:
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.Take 2 minutes to look at how you've spent your time (work and outside of work) over the last 4 weeks.What is non-essential or not helping you achieve your goals?Take this small moment to delete some non-essentials and commit for a week--not forever--just a week to see how you do.It probably took you only 60 seconds to read this post and form an opinion.It doesn't take much more to take action.