How many days a week do you work on business? How many days do you rest? Why?

[GuestUser091]

Here's the questions:

1. How many days a week do you work on business?
2. How many days a week do you take off?
3. Why do you maintain this schedule? (e.g. I have X obligation so I can't, my work is easy so I'm able to, I don't want my kids to starve, I need breaks, I want that dank lambo, etc)

As entrepreneurs, we don't have the same structure as jobs. We can work whenever we want and (depending on our business) wherever we want. We are our own human resources department now. This leaves a lot of things like weekly schedules up in the air and we need to come to a decision on when we work. Now I got shit on when I posed this question a few weeks ago in my now infamous progress thread so F*ck it, lets put it to a poll and see if we can discuss it and come to a consensus (with all the mandatory TFLF snarkiness of course).

My personal opinion? I think 6 days of work, 1 day of rest is best. Why?

For thousands of years, religions have had "days of rest" where work was taken off (e.g. Sunday in Christianity). I'm an agnostic but I still think that there's a lot of truth in religions and that once again religion has a point. Just like a muscle, human energy capacity gets worn out over time and needs eventual recovery like many cyclical parts of nature and the world. A wave crashes onto shore before the water is pulled back, strong economies need recessions to consolidate, and most animals sleep daily to recharge for when they're awake. We take these things as natural but for some reason in the entrepreneurial culture people are shunned for working less than 7 days a week. But in other subcultures like bodybuilding, even the toughest minded bodybuilder takes days off each week for maximum gains rather than overtraining and getting worse results. 1900s factory workers who worked in inconceivably shitty conditions had days off too. Henry Ford even allowed his workers two days off. Did one of the greatest capitalists of the 20th century do this because he wanted to lose money and get beaten by his competiton? No, because he selfishly wanted to increase worker productivity and as a result of his success with it many other businesses followed suit.

Devils advocate may say "WELL DAYS OFF IS JUST A SLOWLANE BELIEF. YOU DON'T NEED DAYS OFF OR REST IF YOU CAN HAVE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE OFF IN 4 YEARS WORKING 24/7/365 STUPID!!" My response is I think you'll get to your fastlane goal faster working 6 very productive days a week than working 7 decent days a week.

I've tried working 7 days a week with no rests like everyone says you should do and you get shamed if you don't. I find it to not to work. After 6 days my mind gravitates very strongly to rest/recovery activities. The day after a rest day I come back stronger than before ready to hit the road again. The 7 day workweek just seems like some insecure dick comparing contest of "I WORK 12 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK" when really the guy saying that is doing easy shit, overestimating, losing out on net productivity, or just bluffing. Working less days and producing more the days you are working seems to be the most effective and fastest path to sustainable progress, IMO. Here's some more sources to back up my belief:
Article 1, Article 2, Jim Rohn video, Great book on the topic.

I'm not making this to preach to you, I'm interested in what other entrepreneurs think and want to see if we can come to a consensus. How many days do you work/take off a week, why, and what are you thoughts?

 

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[Sean Kaye]

Like most jobs, I have one that requires me to work about five days per week. I tend to go into the office around 9:30am - 10am which suits me best because I naturally wake up around 7:30am. I stay until about 6pm or thereabouts and head home. My commute is about 10-15 minutes, throw in some walking education time and maybe it's a half hour each way.

Then when I get home I spend some time with my wife and talk to my son for a bit, then by 8:30pm or 9pm, I'll smash out two or three hours of work on the business. I do daily emails to my list, so there is a regimented process where something in the business has to be done every day and I sell a monthly physical newsletter, so that takes about 8 hours a month to write, publish and get sent out.

On weekends, I kind of do whatever I want - I probably work 8 - 12 hours on the business, sometimes more if I'm engrossed in something. Every so often, I'm just not feeling it, so I relax and take the time off - the business does it's thing without me most of the time, aside from the 20-30 minutes of writing the daily email.

I dig my job and the businesses we own, so it's kind of not like work and I don't make myself a slave to them.

 

[Runum]

LOL. I work on it when needed. There are phases to the business and to products. When working on a new idea, property, product, etc I may work like a mad man 7 days a week anytime I am awake. Sleep may even be cut back to minimum. The push and grind is exhilarating. When everything is running smooth and not looking to expand I may work a few hours a week on it.

However, even when I am not working on business I am always playing with ideas in my head, looking for unmet needs and opportunities to help others.

Short answer to your question, it depends.

 

[Waspy]

As many as required at the time.

If a lot needs doing, I'll work every hour I can. If the business is cruising, time to enjoy life.

Named days...

 

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[CareCPA]

I work when I can hustle up work to do.
I have a full-time job, and I work on my business evenings and weekends. This often means getting up before the family, or taking a call after they go to bed. I still average fewer hours a week than most other people who are building a business.

 

[Mr.Chaos]

I'm an entrepreneur with a day job. So whenever I'm not at my day job, I'm usually handling business. I don't have off days per say, just off time such as a half a day Saturday for hobbies etc. Other than that, I'm obsessed with my work so how many days I take off isn't of high priority. When I see results then maybe I can schedule days off because I deserve them.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

You think like an employee.

Entrepreneurs work as long as needed to get the job done.

They don't count their hours and days worked. The last time I counted hours, I was working at Sears when I was 16 years old.

 

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[V8Bill]

I can remember sitting at my desk for so long (17 hours+ because I was building a new and exciting website for my new venture) that my legs wouldn't straighten when I tried to get up. I eventually stumbled into bed but with stinging eyes after just 5 or 6 hours I couldn't wait to leap out of bed and do it all over again. There were literally not enough hours in the day for me and I resented my body for making me want to go to sleep. There was never a question of timing or pace I only had one speed and that was "head down, rockets fired, no brakes".

Now I sleep when tired and wake when rested. It could be argued that I made it so.

I seek work that fills my day with so much joy and fascination that it forces the term work into redundancy.

 

[jon.a]

I work every day except when I don't.

Edit: I forgot the why.

Because I can.

 

[Fox]

I think it terms of tasks not hours. If it needs done then it gets done. If things are fine then Ill do whatever I want.

I have lots of times where a whole week or month has just gone by because I had some big tasks to get through and it was all that was on my mind. Other time I dont work all week and do whatever the hell I want.

Your customers don't care what hours you worked - it comes down to performance and value.

 

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[Joe Cassandra]

The common old adages you hear are true.

If you work for yourself and honestly enjoy what you're doing, you aren't looking at the clock. Your "work" isn't really work anymore.

The only time I look at the clock is: "My wife expects me done with work in 3 hours...so what do I need to finish now and what can I do at 11pm when everyone's in bed and I'm half-awake."

 

[mentalic]

Currently I work 7 days a week. Usually I rest from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon (although lately I try to do some stuff in the morning also on Sunday). Sunday afternoon is a great time to get a lot of things done and prepare for the week ahead and a (should be) busy Monday.

During weekdays I am usually at the 10-12 hour/day schedule. Sometimes when for example one day I might have to work 14 hours or something, I might be more relaxed the next day.

Basically the thing is work as much as you can, because if you don't, someone else will do it and will take your customers

If you think that you can get away running (or even worse, starting) a business with an employee-like schedule, forget it, don't even bother

 

[GastonEE]

I have a regular 40 hours per week schedule but I also have a side job which usually takes about 2 more hours per day. About 50-55 hours per week in total.

 

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[Xavier X]

 

[Startup A Month]

As a developer, I work when I can, but as an experienced one I know, that you cannot just sit down and develop 8 hours in a day constantly. When the energy comes, you do it. When it fades - you rest, learn or work on side projects.
Sometimes I will work 2 hours in a day but sit at the computer for 8 "working" (reading, learning, taking parts in work related discussions).
Sometimes I will code for 7 hours and sit at the computer 9 hours and sometimes I will code 0 hours and sit 1 hour. It all comes to the energy reservoir I have in me.
Some things require much more from yourself than others. While I could do marketing 12 hours a day 6 days a week, I could not do the same with development.

 

[mike24601]

I personally love getting engrossed in the process and hardly notice how many hours I put into something. Climbing into bed after working on a project most of the day is the most satisfying thing in the world.

 

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[tonyf7]

I work on my business 7 days a week. That means I do something related to growing my business everyday. It can be Facebook marketing, finding ways to be more efficient, creating a job chart, etc. I put in this work because I enjoy it. I like the feeling of knowing I'm moving towards something. Towards an aim. A goal.

As for hours I clock, as in, hours where I'm physically putting in time? That would be 6 days a week, one day "off". About 8-9 hours a day are invested. Then I come home and work ON my business with the goal being the reduction of the number of hours that I have to work IN my business.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Rammsteinfanboy]

Do you guys sacrifice other Parts of Life, such as hobbies, social circle etc? I suppose it`s necessary especially in the beginning if you have a day job to use every remaining free second.

 

[paulmp]

I work when I am awake and not needed for family things... well it feels like that at the moment.

Why? Because I am broke at the moment.

 

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[MetalGear]

• MJ says to look at your micro-habits and to think of Entrepreneurship as a process rather than looking for that one defining moment
• Lots of good consistent micro-decisions will lead to a defining moment
• You will be inconsistent if you only work when motivated and you will burn out
• Best to have some sort of routine to keep yourself on pace. That includes rest and relaxation sprinkled in there somewhere
• Sometimes ideas come to me when I'm trying to relax and I write them down on my phone
• Note that sometimes people "work" in their mind even when they are trying to relax
• What has really helped me is understanding the Power of Now

 

[GuestUser091]

MJ says to look at your micro-habits and to think of Entrepreneurship as a process rather than looking for that one defining moment

This is so true but by far the hardest part. The multitude of micro-habits, good and bad, in a day is overwhelming. You fix one micro-habit, think it's good, then you go to fix another, and then the other one breaks, etc. It sometimes feels like getting water out of a boat that has a hole in its side with a bucket.

 

[MidwestLandlord]

... then the other one breaks, etc.

Then it's not truly a habit.

 

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[MitchM]

This is so true but by far the hardest part. The multitude of micro-habits, good and bad, in a day is overwhelming. You fix one micro-habit, think it's good, then you go to fix another, and then the other one breaks, etc. It sometimes feels like getting water out of a boat that has a hole in its side with a bucket.

Could you elaborate more? If you are having trouble changing your habits then perhaps you don't have a strong enough why.

If you give more details then maybe we can help you.

 

[eliquid]

Like MJ said, the correct answer should always be

"until what I am focused on is done"

.

 

[Nicoknowsbest]

Somebody told me not too long ago:

"The market doesn't pay us for input, but for output."

 

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[Andy Black]

We don't invoice for input, only output. I don't keep track of hours worked or days worked. I don't bill by the hour. I don't know my effective hourly rate.

I regularly check forums and social media and help people where I can. I was doing it anyway and then realised a couple of years ago that it brings me business. Does checking forums or Facebook count as work?

I'm present with my kids for most of their waking day, yet manage to get a lot done. That's all that matters to me.

HTH