How many hours are enough?

[ChristianGa0]

Hello everyone,

I am struggling to figure out how much time is enough in terms of working on my business and it kinda messes my mental. I am also not sure if approaching my business with how much time I put into it is a healthy and good way to Interpret work. I still do enjoy an hour of video Games or watching YT and I base that on the amount of time I have worked in a day.

Thanks and I wish all of you who read this a wonderful week!
Christian

 

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[The One]

Hello everyone,

I am struggling to figure out how much time is enough in terms of working on my business and it kinda messes my mental. I am also not sure if approaching my business with how much time I put into it is a healthy and good way to Interpret work. I still do enjoy an hour of video Games or watching YT and I base that on the amount of time I have worked in a day.

Thanks and I wish all of you who read this a wonderful week!
Christian

[REMOVED BY MOD]

 

[Jrjohnny]

Hello everyone,

I am struggling to figure out how much time is enough in terms of working on my business and it kinda messes my mental. I am also not sure if approaching my business with how much time I put into it is a healthy and good way to Interpret work. I still do enjoy an hour of video Games or watching YT and I base that on the amount of time I have worked in a day.

Thanks and I wish all of you who read this a wonderful week!
Christian

It depends. What are YOU comfortable with?

When does it feel your work, isn’t productive?

Some people can “work” for 9 hours but only really work for 4 hours, then some can “work”for 3 hours but only reallly work for an hour.


1 hour of fully focused work is better than 22 hours of “work”

what the F*ck is wrong with you?

What the hell is wrong with you?

People do things when they want, why the hell does it matter to you?

How many hours do you spend on video games and how many hours to you work on your business?

Id believe it isn’t much since you can’t even write a valuable post to help someone who comes here with a genuine question.

Clearly you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, maybe you need to go back, you seem grumpy.

Anyways, Christian, do what you feel you can do, try your best to fully focus as you can probably do 5x the work.

Some people get burnt out really easily or have really jammed schedules.

They spend that little time really focusing.

So if you work a lot but only do a little, get rid of any distractions.

 

[ChristianGa0]

It depends. What are YOU comfortable with?

When does it feel your work, isn’t productive?

Some people can “work” for 9 hours but only really work for 4 hours, then some can “work”for 3 hours but only reallly work for an hour.


1 hour of fully focused work is better than 22 hours of “work”



What the hell is wrong with you?

People do things when they want, why the hell does it matter to you?

How many hours do you spend on video games and how many hours to you work on your business?

Id believe it isn’t much since you can’t even write a valuable post to help someone who comes here with a genuine question.

Clearly you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, maybe you need to go back, you seem grumpy.

Anyways, Christian, do what you feel you can do, try your best to fully focus as you can probably do 5x the work.

Some people get burnt out really easily or have really jammed schedules.

They spend that little time really focusing.

So if you work a lot but only do a little, get rid of any distractions.

Hi Johnny,

Thanks a lot for the answer. I recently watched Hamzas video on ”flow state“ which has helped so much. Instead of working 8-10 hrs straight I break it up into 2 hr intervals 4-5 times a day with high focus and then take a break for 30 mins. Like that the 2 hours of focused planned out work are actual work and not 1 hour of figuring out what to do and 1 hr of actual work.

Guess it is also to get more for your time (not sure if that is said correctly) as you said 1 hr of full focus work is better than 12 hrs of “work”.

I would give up video games and watching YT but I have always struggled with this, so I just decided to for how ever many hours I work I allow myself 10 mins of YT or video games. Like a reward!

Thanks again for answering and have a wonderful week!!
Christian

 

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[Ravens_Shadow]

There's nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with video games. I run a very successful software company and still play games to this day. For reference, I worked a full time job for 8 hours + 2 hours commute and then came home and worked 4-6 hours every night. Did that for 3 years and then my business finally took off. I generally believe we have 4-6 GREAT hours of work in us each day, anything else is fluff. There are days when you have to put in those 12-14 hours but it's rare unless there's a fire or a big product launch.

 

[YanC]

Number of hours worked doesn't make sense as an entrepreneur. This is employee thinking.

There are tasks to be done, and no one cares how long it takes you to complete them. Some days you may have to put in 14h because some sh*t happened, others you'll be done by 11am and can play video games if you wish.

Of course, especially at the beginning, you're unlikely to achieve anything if you only spend a couple hours now and then working on your business.

Good luck !

 

[Kevin88660]

Hello everyone,

I am struggling to figure out how much time is enough in terms of working on my business and it kinda messes my mental. I am also not sure if approaching my business with how much time I put into it is a healthy and good way to Interpret work. I still do enjoy an hour of video Games or watching YT and I base that on the amount of time I have worked in a day.

Thanks and I wish all of you who read this a wonderful week!
Christian

As much as anything more than that will be counter productive.

Personally I feel the breaking point will be a sudden bizarre weakness in the immune system and susceptible to flu bug, despite on paper I am pumping in sufficient fruits, water, sleep and gym.

This will bring into a forced 3-4 days of low productivity with lots of sleep. And everything becomes okay again.

 

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[ChristianGa0]

There's nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with video games. I run a very successful software company and still play games to this day. For reference, I worked a full time job for 8 hours + 2 hours commute and then came home and worked 4-6 hours every night. Did that for 3 years and then my business finally took off. I generally believe we have 4-6 GREAT hours of work in us each day, anything else is fluff. There are days when you have to put in those 12-14 hours but it's rare unless there's a fire or a big product launch.

Hi Ravens Shadow,

Thanks for answering! I realize my self that after 4-8 hrs of intense focus the rest of time is kinda non focused shallow work.

Have a great week!

Christian

 

[ChristianGa0]

Number of hours worked doesn't make sense as an entrepreneur. This is employee thinking.

There are tasks to be done, and no one cares how long it takes you to complete them. Some days you may have to put in 14h because some sh*t happened, others you'll be done by 11am and can play video games if you wish.

Of course, especially at the beginning, you're unlikely to achieve anything if you only spend a couple hours now and then working on your business.

Good luck !

Hi Yan,

Thanks for answering! I still do have that bit of employee thinking in me, quite my apprenticeship almost a month ago to purse my business, a lot of thinking ways have to be changed but am enjoying the process. Think it’s just setting the right priorities, time management and focused work.

Thanks and wish you a great week!
Christian

 

[ChristianGa0]

As much as anything more than that will be counter productive.

Personally I feel the breaking point will be a sudden bizarre weakness in the immune system and susceptible to flu bug, despite on paper I am pumping in sufficient fruits, water, sleep and gym.

This will bring into a forced 3-4 days of low productivity with lots of sleep. And everything becomes okay again.

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for answering! I think our bodies are also a great indicator for how much work we still can realistically do, yes you can push through tiredness and being uncomfortable but at some point you will just have lower output and you are better off not working than working.

Thank you so much for these answer, they have really helped me!
Have a wonderful week Kevin!
Christian

 

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[Consolation]

It would have been easy to judge effort by how many hours a day passed while I was at work. That's the worst way to measure effort. Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results. - Mark Cuban

 

[ChristianGa0]

It would have been easy to judge effort by how many hours a day passed while I was at work. That's the worst way to measure effort. Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results. - Mark Cuban

Wow! Thanks so much!!!

 

[Andy Black]

Hello everyone,

I am struggling to figure out how much time is enough in terms of working on my business and it kinda messes my mental. I am also not sure if approaching my business with how much time I put into it is a healthy and good way to Interpret work. I still do enjoy an hour of video Games or watching YT and I base that on the amount of time I have worked in a day.

Thanks and I wish all of you who read this a wonderful week!
Christian

Don't base it on hours worked.

As Irish business coach Blaise Brosnan said:

"You can't invoice for input."

Figure out what you need to do next to get closer to your goals, and chip away at it.

what the F*ck is wrong with you?

Be aware we build our personal brand through every interaction we make.

Are you able to help OP?

 

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[ChristianGa0]

Don't base it on hours worked.

As Irish business coach Blaise Brosnan said:

"You can't invoice for input."

Figure out what you need to do next to get closer to your goals, and chip away at it.


Be aware we build our personal brand through every interaction we make.

Are you able to help OP?

Hi Andy,

Thank you so much for answering. I also think if I want to become an entrepreneur I cant base my work on hours, I should focus more on my output in those hours and if my efforts help achieve my goals. And rather than work 8 hours but not get a lot done, work 4-6 and get a lot done.

Have a great week!
Christian

 

[BizyDad]

4-6 GREAT hours

I hear tales of a legend named @ZCP who gets 15 GREAT hours EVERY DAY man. Channel your inner chop chop man.

 

[ChristianGa0]

I hear tales of a legend named @ZCP who gets 15 GREAT hours EVERY DAY man. Channel your inner chop chop man.

Thanks for answering!! I think we all have different times we work well, some might get solid 4-6 some might get upwards of 15. It might be different from person to person, but who knows it might also not be and everyone is capable of working 12+ hrs.

Have a great week
Christian

 

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[hrsh777]

Damn. I've been having the same issue. I used to feel sad when worked any less than 8 hours in a day. Then a month ago i burnt out so bad that i spent 2 weeks on my bed.
Now i don't care about the hours but only focus on tasks. Now I'm using the 1/5/10 strategy and breaking down goals into bite size chunks, I've found a great way to manage my expectations.

 

[biophase]

I hear tales of a legend named @ZCP who gets 15 GREAT hours EVERY DAY man. Channel your inner chop chop man.

I used to do about 2 hours at a time. 2 hours then an hour of something else. Then another 2 hours. Anything more than 2 and I don’t feel like I’m at the top of my game.

 

[BizyDad]

Anything more than 2 and I don’t feel like I’m at the top of my game.

<sarcasm> Sounds like a limiting belief to me... </sarcasm>

 

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[ChristianGa0]

Damn. I've been having the same issue. I used to feel sad when worked any less than 8 hours in a day. Then a month ago i burnt out so bad that i spent 2 weeks on my bed.
Now i don't care about the hours but only focus on tasks. Now I'm using the 1/5/10 strategy and breaking down goals into bite size chunks, I've found a great way to manage my expectations.

Thanks for answering!! I feel like having that belief that you need to work a certain amount of hours is not a healthy mindset (which is what my mindset currently is ) its rather better to see what you get done than counting the hours. I think multiple people have said that on this thread already so thanks guys!!

Wish everyone a wonderful week!
Chrsitian

 

[ZCP]

I hear tales of a legend named @ZCP who gets 15 GREAT hours EVERY DAY man. Channel your inner chop chop man.

I've switched to the 'done for the day' list. (Sometimes it will be a 'done for the week' list)
The one to three MOST IMPACTFUL most amazing things that I need to get done to make progress toward my goals.
And then get them F*cking done. Might take 2 hours. Might take eleventy. When I'm done I can stop and go do other stuff and be proud of the impact I made.

And I use Block Schedule a lot. Block in one hour (or 90 min or 2 hours) for a major task or to work a certain role. Then I turn everything off and FOCUS on just that for the amount of time. Then I move on. I put them on the weekly calendar first work all my other bullshit around them. You want to get to the end of the week and have something to show for it. Constantly ask yourself 'am I busy or am I effective?'.

Agree with @biophase, something like the Pomodoro technique seems best for me. I need the thinking break in between to reset / walk around, etc. Then come back and focus again.

 

[ZCP]

I hear tales of a legend named @ZCP who gets 15 GREAT hours EVERY DAY man. Channel your inner chop chop man.

When I worked construction or was starting my company, sure. When I was in grad school, probably more hours than that.
As I got older and family, etc., well some of those hours needed to shift into other areas vs all to work. Typically I am busy / doing stuff / learning 15 to 16 hours a day still.

I'll watch a movie or walk the dog here and there. Or spend some time connecting with all you dumbasses. But not a lot of idle hours.

I also have noticed that I tend to have one or two weeks a year where I withdraw from everything, take time off, maybe game for 30 straight hours. Maybe read 4 or 5 books and disappear from the office / family. I heard about that thinking week that Bill Gates did and guess I'm trying to do that. Now I try to put them into a twice a year business conference week where I travel to meet other fastlaners and reset for the week.

 

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[ChristianGa0]

I've switched to the 'done for the day' list. (Sometimes it will be a 'done for the week' list)
The one to three MOST IMPACTFUL most amazing things that I need to get done to make progress toward my goals.
And then get them F*cking done. Might take 2 hours. Might take eleventy. When I'm done I can stop and go do other stuff and be proud of the impact I made.

And I use Block Schedule a lot. Block in one hour (or 90 min or 2 hours) for a major task or to work a certain role. Then I turn everything off and FOCUS on just that for the amount of time. Then I move on. I put them on the weekly calendar first work all my other bullshit around them. You want to get to the end of the week and have something to show for it. Constantly ask yourself 'am I busy or am I effective?'.

Agree with @biophase, something like the Pomodoro technique seems best for me. I need the thinking break in between to reset / walk around, etc. Then come back and focus again.

I think, the to do list and breaking it down into little bits is a great way to get stuff done. Cause instead of spending hours thinking about what your gonna do you can save that energy and write it down plan your day or week and then use 2-3 hours to tackle it and get it done in the most effective way. I think key point is FOCUS cause in todays world we struggle to focus a lot with all of social media and short form content and instant gratification.

Also huge difference between ”busy“ and “effective“ could probably change your whole output level.

I think for everyone they have their own “productivity hack” what ways they work best, I also like the pomodoro like technique where I work for 90-120 mins depending on task and have no distractions and after that have A walk or some food.

Thanks for giving such an informative answer!
have a wonderful week!

 

[Vigilante]

Hello everyone,

I am struggling to figure out how much time is enough in terms of working on my business and it kinda messes my mental. I am also not sure if approaching my business with how much time I put into it is a healthy and good way to Interpret work. I still do enjoy an hour of video Games or watching YT and I base that on the amount of time I have worked in a day.

Thanks and I wish all of you who read this a wonderful week!
Christian

More

More hours

You’re not done until you make it

And when you make it

You’re not done.

The answer to your question is … more.

 

[Panos Daras]

"You can't invoice for input."

I don't know who this Blaise Brosnan is but I have seen millions of invoices for input a.k.a per hour.

Trolling aside, in regard to the question. As many people pointed out, you shall work on tasks that move you toward your target based on the deadline you set for yourself. If you find that your work is not productive, stop and start again later. Go for a walk or exercise in between. If you find yourself in a state of flow continue.

Also, there are more things than "work". We also have other important goals in life to achieve. For example health, family, and relationships. I also budget some time for these and create weekly routines. You cannot do everything. For example, I know that I cannot be killing myself at the gym as I used to, and also have the energy to do stuff for my family and work. So I have to take it a bit easier. Still making progress though. Just...slower.
You can do everything, but not everything at the same time.

In addition, it depends on what kind of work you do.
For example, It is more difficult to spend long and productive hours coding than doing meetings with clients.

Bottom line, do what works best for you, try to remove distractions and slowly work on being more productive.

 

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[artz]

It's not about the schedule, but about necessity. When I was building my business, I used to set daily goals and achieve them. There were some unusual weeks where I needed to put in 12-16 hours a day, seven days a week. However, most of the time, 4 hours of quality work were more than enough.

 

[ChristianGa0]

It's not about the schedule, but about necessity. When I was building my business, I used to set daily goals and achieve them. There were some unusual weeks where I needed to put in 12-16 hours a day, seven days a week. However, most of the time, 4 hours of quality work were more than enough.

Hi Artz,

Thanks for answering! I think as mentioned by Yan in this thread, scheduling is a bit like employee thinking. Setting daily goals to achieve is a good guiding point, will definitely start doing that more often. In the Beginning there will be days of 12 hrs everyday and you will be tired, I have accepted that already. I think I should just make goals for the day, try achieve them in the most productive way.

Have a wonderful week,
Christian

 

[ChristianGa0]

I don't know who this Blaise Brosnan is but I have seen millions of invoices for input a.k.a per hour.

Trolling aside, in regard to the question. As many people pointed out, you shall work on tasks that move you toward your target based on the deadline you set for yourself. If you find that your work is not productive, stop and start again later. Go for a walk or exercise in between. If you find yourself in a state of flow continue.

Also, there are more things than "work". We also have other important goals in life to achieve. For example health, family, and relationships. I also budget some time for these and create weekly routines. You cannot do everything. For example, I know that I cannot be killing myself at the gym as I used to, and also have the energy to do stuff for my family and work. So I have to take it a bit easier. Still making progress though. Just...slower.
You can do everything, but not everything at the same time.

In addition, it depends on what kind of work you do.
For example, It is more difficult to spend long and productive hours coding than doing meetings with clients.

Bottom line, do what works best for you, try to remove distractions and slowly work on being more productive.

Hi Panos,

Thanks for answering!! I think the key point to take away from your comment is “work on being more productive“ because that will save us loads of time and get things done in a timely manner and in higher quality!

have a great week!
Christian

 

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[The One]

[REMOVED BY MOD]

My bro, forgive me if I offended you. It’s just that it kind of pissed me off since your answer is in the question but I wasn’t angry at you bro. Until then, have an awesome day.

 

[emavery176]

Whatever it takes to get the job done. Just focus on finishing your daily goals to meet your monthly goals and your monthly goals to meet your yearly goals.

There are some days I work 2 hours and others, twelve.