How I Cut My Hours in Half

And somehow managed
to get more done

by Jason Lengstorf
@jlengstorf  ·  jason@lengstorf.com

Slides: git.io/work-life-balance

I nearly robbed
the world of its majesty

I was a workaholic

In 2012 I averaged 70 hours per week on the computer

And it wasn’t unusual to pass 90.

My long hours were a point of pride for me

But then...

Black Friday

I landed a huge contract:

A high-profile, Black Friday marketing site for a Fortune 500 company — charging agency rates and rush fees.

We planned it all out...

...then reality happened

But I’m no
quitter

I worked over 100 hours that week

The Business Result:

• The client loved it
• The project made the client a bunch of money
• I got paid a bunch of money
• The project won an Addy Award

The Personal Cost:

• I missed Thanksgiving with my family
• I slept less than 4 hours a night
• I ate fast food delivery for every. single. meal.
• MY FRIGGIN’ BEARD FELL OUT

I was already burning out.

Poor & healthy
is better than successful & sick

I cut back on everything:

• I only accepted calls during business hours
• I turned off ALL notifications
• I turned on Do Not Disturb mode from 6pm to 8am
• I only checked email twice a day
• I set up activities with my friends...
• ...and left my phone in the car while I was there

I was ready to lose business if I could have my life back

…but that’s not what happened

What I expected:

my clients would leave

I’d miss big opportunities

I’d accomplish less

What happened:

no one noticed

my business grew

I got more done

“How is it possible that you got more done by working fewer hours?”

First: the science

Working 60+ hours per week makes us less productive than working 40 hours¹

Long hours destroy passion and engagement²

Overworking increases employee turnover³

Creativity suffers if we don’t take time to go outside and be people⁴

Lack of downtime
hurts productivity
and creativity⁵

We lose 20% of our time per task while multitasking⁶

Sleeping less than 7 hours
a night is worse than being too drunk to drive⁷

🤨

“You haven’t answered the question, nerd.”

5 Strategies to
TurbochargeYour Productivity

1. Track your time
2. Time-box tasks
3. Front-load important work
4. Prioritize aggressively
5. DO NOT multitask

Strategy #1:

Track Your Time

The simple act of acknowledging how we spend our time encourages us to use it more wisely.

If I have a long day...

...I know to take a day off

Strategy #2:

Time-Box Tasks

You’re never more productive than when you’re up against a deadline with 13% battery left.

Find your rhythm.

• Decide how long you want to focus for
• Close and turn off everything unrelated
• Start a timer
• Unleash your brilliance upon the world
• When the timer goes off, take a break
• Repeat

Why This Works

1. We’re not distracted

2. We get into a flow state

3. We’re taking breaks

4. We’re still available

Also: science^*

We all have something called an “ultradian rhythm”, which regulates our energy in 90-minute-ish intervals.⁸

^* May not be actual science.

Strategy #3:

Front-Load Important Work

Motivation and self-control are resources that deplete as the day goes on. Don’t waste them.

We’re the best versions of ourselves early in our day

• energy is higher
• focus is improved
• self-control is at its peak

Morning Me

Evening Me

Strategy #4:

Prioritize Aggressively

If everything is The Most Important Thing™, nothing is.

Use the Highlander Technique

Put tasks into a tournament bracket...

...and then start choosing.

Strategy #5:

DO NOT Multitask

Ever. Just stop it.

Context Switching is
fatal to productivity

Source: Coding Horror

Multitasking makes
us feel productive.

Single-tasking makes us actually productive.

🤔

“How do I know that any of this junk really works?”

My 2016 RescueTime report

Average: 37 hours per week

My 2017 RescueTime report

Average: 39 hours per week

I’ve been able to manage:

• My day job workload
• My blogs and side projects
• Multiple conference sessions and workshops
• A reasonably full social calendar
• 3× weekly workouts
• 8 hours average sleep

Let’s Recap

If we work too much, we’re:

• worse at our jobs
• more likely to burn out
• less likely to feel satisfied at our job
• less able to enjoy our lives

If we work a reasonable schedule, we’re:

• more creative
• more productive
• happier (both in and out of work)
• healthier

We can be more productive in less time by:

1. paying attention to how we spend our time
2. time-boxing tasks to create urgency & limit distractions
3. front-loading demanding tasks while our energy is high
4. aggressively prioritizing work to enable better focus
5. never, ever, ever multitasking again

We all have a choice

Thanks!

Jason Lengstorf
Follow me on Twitter: @jlengstorf