Comparing Work Hours to Other People

[GuestUser4aMPs1]

"Comparison is the thief of joy"
-Theodore Roosevelt

This quote rings true in several areas of my life, but I'm getting hung up in one specific case, and could really use some help by the members on here.

This is Comparing work hours to other people.

Why?

As a background, I have never held a full-time job. It was always part-time, working on the business during downtime (I used to be a tech support guy, so business was built at my desk) plus hustles on the side after-hours. Last year was difficult doing this moving out for the first time, but over the course of ~3 months, I've basically reached the income level I was making before leaving the previous job.

With that being said, the #1 problem is never knowing what bleed-your-eyes-out work hours are really like on someone else's clock. Sure, I put in '12-16 hour days' once every other week, but not the 'work at Applebee's until 3am' kind of work so common among my peers.

This leads to a double-edged sword feeling of...
A: Feeling like garbage for not working long/hard enough, even on semi-productive days, and
B: Getting pissed for not work longer/harder on extremely productive days.
Usually stopped by exhaustion.

In all honesty,
I only truly execute ~20 Hours on a bad week, and ~35 Hours on a good week.

Here are the stats from Harvest...

This week (not done yet):



Last Week:


Week Before:


The goal is to consistently execute 35-40 hours weekly on meaningful tasks, and I'm working on squeezing more juice out of each day. Thankfully, these times are only recorded when I actually sit down and do the work with intense focus.

In the meantime while getting there however, I sometimes get hung up when someone mentions "x guy who works at Wal-Mart 9am-4pm and then Applebees 5pm-12am." In that moment I immediately think "Shit, why am I not working that hard?!"

I'm F*cking terrified of becoming @LordPhenny

Is there anyone else that struggles with this?

If so, what did you do to get over this mental block?
Just suck it up and work harder?

 

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[Philip Marlowe]

Work should never be about the literal hours you put in - it should be about what you have to show for it. The idea that time working directly correlates to output or productivity is scripted thinking. You should NEVER think that a guy stocking shelves at Wal-Mart for 16 hours worked "harder" than you because it's comparing apples to oranges.

He's doing brainless, manual work. I (assume) you're doing thought-provoking, creative work.

I realize it's important mentally to have some sort of time block ("how'd I do today?" or "what can I accomplish this afternoon") but start looking at where that time is taking you with respect to your goals.

Frankly, some days I've only got the motivation to complete one thing (quick plug - read Keller's book 'One Thing') but some times that's enough.

Don't get hung up. Just keep driving towards your goals. Stop thinking about hours worked on the clock and start thinking about progress made.

-PM

 

[Aaron T]

Interestingly as a Thought worker (Software Development) so much of my hardest work is done in my head while I sit quietly apparently doing nothing. I might spend long hours, days, weeks, months in some cases, on a very hard problem, not visibly making progress. Then I will finally get it and put to the screen everything. Sometimes that work looks like a few hours, but was months in the making. Other times that work looks like furious tapping on the keyboard for days on end, yet didn't actually do any work. I learned based on what I do to stop judging others based on how many hours they put in, visibly or not, and judge them only on the outcome.

Working hard is so subjective. I wouldn't let anyones perspective or comparison bring you down. I know I have put crazy long hours in that felt like nothing, but struggled horribly on a single 5 hour problem. I assume that happens to everyone. Therefore it you can't compare your own work and time as equals, then anyones time comparison for how "hard" they work is pretty damn useless.

 

[Philip Marlowe]

In the meantime while getting there however, I sometimes get hung up when someone mentions "x guy who works at Wal-Mart 9am-4pm and then Applebees 5pm-12am." In that moment I immediately think "Shit, why am I not working that hard?!"

Just realized I should have addressed this as well. Take a look at your group of friends. Are they counting their tips from Applebees and bringing you down because you didn't sling Buffalo Wings for a double shift, or are you both rising with the tide and trying to bring each other up around your entrepreneurial goals?

This forum is a great start, but when you're not here, make sure you're spending time with the right people. Catch these hourly working friends on a Sunday for football, but spend quality time with like-minded folks.

 

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[amp0193]

I don't know how many hours I work a week. I'm actually always looking for ways to work less.

If I work too much, it's probably because I'm doing bullshit tasks. It gives me anxiety to work on something I know that a minimum wage VA could be doing instead.


I just aim to get one big thing done each day, 7 days a week.


Move the dial every day.

 

[Bourbons]

Yeah I 'work' from between 6AM-8AM any given morning, including weekends, until usually 9, 10, 11PM.

But a lot of that time is spent thinking, not putting pen to paper, or whatever else you may consider work.

When stuff needs doing and it's something that needs me to do it, I'll grind away until it's done, but I delegate a lot. To freelancers, business partners, staff.

I just solve problems all day. Think of the solution then get it fixed.

Once you start working on a project, it's just a barrage of problems day to day that build up into a business when solved.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

I don't know how many hours I work a week. I'm actually always looking for ways to work less.

If I work too much, it's probably because I'm doing bullshit tasks. It gives me anxiety to work on something I know that a minimum wage VA could be doing instead.


I just aim to get one big thing done each day, 7 days a week.


Move the dial every day.

This.

A better thing to track is not how many hours you worked, but

"Did I accomplish what's necessary for the business to operate?" and "Did I push the business forward today?"

If you accomplished both, then you should have no qualms about your day.

If you didn't accomplish #1, then your business is gonna be screwed and you should feel bad. If you didn't accomplish #2 then you should put more time and effort in pushing the business forward and growing it.

 

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[GuestUser4aMPs1]

Hey everyone, THANK YOU for everyone's valuable input.
Realizing how dumb this mindset was.

A better thing to track is not how many hours you worked, but

"Did I accomplish what's necessary for the business to operate?" and "Did I push the business forward today?"

If you accomplished both, then you should have no qualms about your day.

If you didn't accomplish #1, then your business is gonna be screwed and you should feel bad. If you didn't accomplish #2 then you should put more time and effort in pushing the business forward and growing it.

Excellent points.

In the current state of affairs, #1 is almost always reached daily. The problem is consistently accomplishing #2.
The first thought is to ramp up my time input to accomplish #2, but with such an influx of orders this week, I'm spending most of my time on #1 just to keep customers happy and deliver.

In addition, fatigue eventually builds up and my ability to reach #1 suffers.
After a whole week of nonstop pummeling, 2 orders were late today and I'm dreading filling two more orders before the end of the night.

I'm at the point of "F*ck This," but also happy to confidently know:
-That 'Work Hours' is totally subjective related to results.
-My focus is entirely on vanity metrics (Hours Worked) versus how much I'm moving the needle.
Recently I've felt things are moving too slow, and can now attest it's because I'm not focusing on #2 more.
-The goal shouldn't be 'how much juice can I squeeze out of the day (in terms of hours)' but rather
'How can I increase revenue while reducing time spent on #1 tasks?'
-Even if the work metric did matter for some reason, My 'hard limit' at this state is ~31-35 hours production, and I'm fine with working less than that.
-Now that I know the limit, I know I can't do this alone and need to take processes and hiring seriously so I don't crack under pressure again.
This has been a toxic, recurring pattern.

Yeah I 'work' from between 6AM-8AM any given morning, including weekends, until usually 9, 10, 11PM.

You had me thinking about something.

As Employees, we're in a natural state of rest and have our work scheduled for us around rest.
As Entrepreneurs, we're in a natural state of work and have to have rest scheduled around our work.

I'm constantly 'on' from the moment I wake up until the second I fall asleep,
but to say we're working during 100% of that time frame would be dishonest.
It's totally subjective.

I'm actually always looking for ways to work less.

Move the dial every day.

These are now stickied on my laptop as a reminder.
Thank you!

Just realized I should have addressed this as well. Take a look at your group of friends. Are they counting their tips from Applebees and bringing you down because you didn't sling Buffalo Wings for a double shift, or are you both rising with the tide and trying to bring each other up around your entrepreneurial goals?

This forum is a great start, but when you're not here, make sure you're spending time with the right people. Catch these hourly working friends on a Sunday for football, but spend quality time with like-minded folks.

Glad you brought this up. I wouldn't say anyone brings me down (and I won't tolerate it),
but work feels like a touchy subject. There's this general imposter syndrome feeling when around friends who are working their eyeballs out while going to college, and you're this dude who spends a lot of time in coffee shops apparently doing nothing.

I only share the struggles of running the business with close friends who are willing to listen,
even if they don't understand completely.

Haven't found someone in the area in a similar boat or has been in this stage before, but I'm sure he/she/they exist.
I probably don't realize how much I'm missing out on hanging with these people yet.

Anyway, I know the above post was long, but thank you thank you THANK YOU to everyone who replied.
You have no idea how much this has helped and I'll take it all to heart.

 

[amp0193]

If you didn't accomplish #1, then your business is gonna be screwed and you should feel bad. If you didn't accomplish #2 then you should put more time and effort in pushing the business forward and growing it.

Alternatively, if you didn't accomplish #2, then you probably spent all of your time on #1, and need to find ways to automate and outsource your tasks.

Or do both... become more efficient, and input more time, then you'll just be unstoppable.

 

[amp0193]

But a lot of that time is spent thinking, not putting pen to paper, or whatever else you may consider work.

I get lots of work done in the shower.


Many solutions to problems come while letting the hot water run over me and I just let my mind wander.

 

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[Envision]

Quality over Quantity.

 

[amp0193]

These are now stickied on my laptop as a reminder.
Thank you!

"Take Action Every Day" was the takeaway I got from a phone call with @IceCreamKid, back when he was giving those out.

It's kept me on the right path, especially on the days where I didn't feel like it.

 

[Fpm9]

One of my motivations to start my own business and quit my job when possible is time management. At my previous job I was required to spend 10+ hours a day at the office, whether I had to work for 10 hours or for 2. I'd rather work on my own business, I have much better chances of being productive this way.

 

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[AgainstAllOdds]

The first thought is to ramp up my time input to accomplish #2, but with such an influx of orders this week, I'm spending most of my time on #1 just to keep customers happy and deliver.

In addition, fatigue eventually builds up and my ability to reach #1 suffers.
After a whole week of nonstop pummeling, 2 orders were late today and I'm dreading filling two more orders before the end of the night.

Yup.

You need to hire someone to manage those clients.

Having a lot of work isn't a bad thing. But having a lot of operational work, and no time for growth is bad. You need to shift time away from operational and into growth. Easiest way to do that is to hire someone else. And if you can't hire someone else, it means you're not charging enough.

 

[Consolation]

Check Comparative Immunity on Unscripted .

I found Mark Cuban once said that it is EFFORT that guarantees success. But he did emphasize that to measure effort by how many hours a day passed while working is the worst to measure our effort.

Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results.

 

[Nicoknowsbest]

"Playing with sand is for kids."
(heard from @Andy Black - I believe he quoted Blaise Brosnan)

Imagine you have an empty jar.

Imagine you have rocks, pebbles, sand and water in front of you.

The rocks represent your biggest, most important tasks.

The pebbles stand for less important tasks.

Sand represents daily noise and water symbolizes even less important tasks.

So...

The jar represents your day.

You need to get ahead and start executing.

In what order do you put these items in?

In what order do you attack your tasks?

If you start with sand, how many rocks will you be able to fit in?

If you start with pebbles - how much space is left?

The magic happens, when you start with the stones.

You'll still be able to put in enough pebbles, sand and water.

Don't get lost in busy work!

Don't play with sand!

 

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[GuestUser4aMPs1]

You need to hire someone to manage those clients.

Having a lot of work isn't a bad thing. But having a lot of operational work, and no time for growth is bad. You need to shift time away from operational and into growth. Easiest way to do that is to hire someone else. And if you can't hire someone else, it means you're not charging enough.

This.

Hiring has been on the backburner until things got 'bad enough' to absolutely require them for the operation of the business.

Not a proactive approach, but lots of work is a good-quality problem.

Thankfully there's enough profit to hire, so I'll work on getting those people in place for the next influx.

Thanks again!