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.
The Real World Tradeoff Of Internet B.S.
I had always worked 60 hour weeks.But I wanted to do more, so I started working 80 hour weeks. It felt sexy and self-righteous to cut out weekends and social events.I was beating everyone.And that’s when I decided I wanted to push 100 hour weeks.
Let me explain something really important about this.
The difference between 60 and 80 is not the same as the difference between 80 and 100.At 60 hour weeks you’re sacrificing some social stuff, but there’s still time for a relaxing weekend.At 80 hour weeks, your weekends are gone so you’re sacrificing almost if not all of your social activity.
Here’s where it gets crazy.
At 100 hour weeks, you’re now forced to sacrifice really basic needs like exercise and sleep.You’re basically getting 5 hours of sleep each night and immediately beginning work when you get up.There are a lot of internet people who talk about hard work, long hours, and the sexiness of competing for who stayed at the office the longest.I’ve worked all of these styles and I can tell you that there is a huge trade off when you exceed 80 hour work weeks.Sacrificing all social events and interactions means you have no support network or way to vent, verbally process, or feel connected.Sacrificing exercise means your health risks go up and you don’t have recovery hormones making you feel positive and energized all day. Enter; the risk for a coffee, cigarette, or other stimulant addiction.Sacrificing sleep means your body can’t recover as it normally would from mental or physical exertion.All of a sudden, you’re making stupid mistakes that create more work.
But weren’t you working all this time to get ahead?
Now you’ve got a problem. More work and less capacity to finish it.The point is that there’s a tradeoff and you have to find your sweet spot.If you’re serious about living a productive life that helps others and improve our planet, you’re going to have to be responsible for your own sustainability.
This means finding out your limits and working backward to hit your stride.
Stop listening to the internet celebrity B.S. and start listening to (and measuring) yourself.No one else is going to tell you what’s optimal for you. You have to get out there and figure it out.
2 Minute Action
Take 2 minute to reflect on the amount of sleep you’ve gotten for the last week.Set a sleep goal (high or low, it doesn’t matter) for this week.Set a reinder for each morning to notice how you feel with that amount of sleep each day of this week.Reply here and let me know what results you get. There’s no right or wrong with this, I’m just curious what is working for you.
What Is Productivity Overhead?
woman biting pencil with anxiety from productivity overhead
You already know about productivity overhead, you just have been calling it something else.
Just like a business' overhead (the costs needed to cover salaries, rent, the electric bill, etc. etc.) . . .
. . . your productivity has overhead.
You need to sleep, eat, exercise, play, be social, etc. etc.
You will almost never get a productive output during those actions--but we can agree that they're important to stay high-functioning.
But wait, I want to be at peak performance!
Stop for a second and read that last sentence again. Peak performance is a small, temporary spike on the graph. It's not feasible to sustain peak performance.
2 Types of Productivity Overhead
Sure, Hussein Bolt can run the 100m in just a few seconds--but how long would it take him to run a mile? It's not reasonable to expect that he would be able to keep up the same pace.
To make it to the finish line, we will either have to:
- Take breaks in between (pit stops).
- Move slower (pace).
Knowing this, consider the cost of your productivity overhead when you take on a new task, close out a contract, or take a vacation.
In order to set reasonable goals and objectives, you will need to consider all the pit stops you'll need to take along the way as well as the pace at which you burn energy.
It needs to be built into the profit margin, just like a product.
When you start looking at your time and energy this way, your mindset will help you create a more functional budget.
I want to challenge you for a second.
If you're like me, you're probably also having thoughts of "well, maybe that's true, but I think I could run full speed for a while."
You might be right!
But consider that stupid mistakes are easier to make when you're tired. Consider what kind of work habits you want to develop. I hear people say things like "when x happens, then I'll start doing y."
"When I have more money, then I'll start investing."
"When I have more time, then I'll start a company."
"When I retire, then I'll start traveling."
You know what I'm about to say.
This is no way to live. You're missing out on life, opportunity, and the power of compounding interest!
So, I'll say it again just to drive this home:
Consider your productivity overhead, which is the recovery time required for achieving goals in a healthy and satisfying way.
Of course, this doesn't just apply to productivity in your work. Check out this post on emotional productivity, a huge blind spot for most people.
This budget, coupled with the discipline of doing the work, will position you for high-quality output.
2 Minute Action
Here's a quick exercise to determine your current productivity overhead and start measuring what a "healthy" productivity overhead ratio looks like.
Take 2 minutes to count your day in half-hours.
You've got 48, half-hour blocks per day.
Write them out and fill in what you're currently doing during each of those chunks.
Take a ratio of "productive hours" to "non-productive" or "overhead" hours.
If you're a consultant, this is like comparing billable-hours with non-billable-hours.
Once you have your day outlined, great! How did that feel?
Everyone is different, so it's up to you to define your optimal ratio. There's no right or wrong answer to this. It's just up to you to measure where you are and know yourself enough to say "this isn't healthy" or "I need to add some overhead if I'm going to make it through this project."
The numbers don't matter, but the results do.
Today is the day. You can start right now and it only takes 2 minutes.