# You Only Need 4 Focused Hours of Work Per Day

![rw-book-cover](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article3.5c705a01b476.png)

## Metadata
- Author: [[Ayodeji Awosika]]
- Full Title: You Only Need 4 Focused Hours of Work Per Day
- Category: #articles
- URL: https://medium.com/illumination/you-only-need-4-focused-hours-of-work-per-day-463c02c87e80

## Highlights
- When it comes to knowledge work, the inefficiencies are enormous. Most people waste time and mental energy switching between tasks and stretching out their work to fit the duration of their shift instead of getting more focused on getting work done in a shorter time frame.
- I start my work sessions every day by getting 2–4 hours of focused work done.
- Why Arbitrary Time Periods Make No Sense
- Forty hour workweeks are a relic of the Industrial Age. Knowledge workers function like athletes — train and sprint, then rest and reassess.
- The 8-hour workday was created to reduce the length of arduous workdays for labor. But many of us now work in knowledge fields — either we work as an employee or we freelance, create content, run online businesses, etc.
- A uniform 8-hour workday across all industries makes little to no sense. Different professions require different skills, tackle different challenges, and use different levels of cognitive
- If your boss told you that instead of working 8 hours, you could work 4 and leave as long as you got your major tasks done, you’d likely get just as much, if not more, done.
- Hustle Pornography Gone Wild
- “Working hard is great, but struggle porn has a dangerous side effect: not quitting. When you believe the normal state of affairs is to feel like you’re struggling to make progress, you’ll be less likely to quit something that isn’t going anywhere.”
- You do have times where you need to hustle. Without question, you’re not going to reach great heights as a creator or an entrepreneur without some 12–14 hour days, crazy stretches to meet deadlines, and 7-day workweeks
- if you’re running a venture-backed tech company, building spaceships, or trying to reach some billion-dollar valuation, then, yeah, you will have to ‘hustle till your eyes bleed.’
- The point isn’t to avoid hard work, but to be more efficient and avoid wasting time on useless tasks and effort that has diminishing marginal utility.
- “Two Core Abilities for Thriving in the New Economy 1. The ability to quickly master hard things. 2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.” — Cal Newport
- the most important tasks that move the needle require concentration
- You won’t have breakthroughs in your career or business if you don’t spend enough time focused intently on being creative
- What’s an important task? It depends on what you do for a living or for your business. It also depends on what stage of the process you’re in
- “The answer is not more hours, it’s less bullshit.” — Jason Fried
# You Only Need 4 Focused Hours of Work Per Day

![rw-book-cover](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article3.5c705a01b476.png)

## Metadata
- Author: [[Ayodeji Awosika]]
- Full Title: You Only Need 4 Focused Hours of Work Per Day
- Category: #articles
- URL: https://medium.com/illumination/you-only-need-4-focused-hours-of-work-per-day-463c02c87e80

## Highlights
- When it comes to knowledge work, the inefficiencies are enormous. Most people waste time and mental energy switching between tasks and stretching out their work to fit the duration of their shift instead of getting more focused on getting work done in a shorter time frame.
- I start my work sessions every day by getting 2–4 hours of focused work done.
- Why Arbitrary Time Periods Make No Sense
- Forty hour workweeks are a relic of the Industrial Age. Knowledge workers function like athletes — train and sprint, then rest and reassess.
- The 8-hour workday was created to reduce the length of arduous workdays for labor. But many of us now work in knowledge fields — either we work as an employee or we freelance, create content, run online businesses, etc.
- A uniform 8-hour workday across all industries makes little to no sense. Different professions require different skills, tackle different challenges, and use different levels of cognitive
- If your boss told you that instead of working 8 hours, you could work 4 and leave as long as you got your major tasks done, you’d likely get just as much, if not more, done.
- Hustle Pornography Gone Wild
- “Working hard is great, but struggle porn has a dangerous side effect: not quitting. When you believe the normal state of affairs is to feel like you’re struggling to make progress, you’ll be less likely to quit something that isn’t going anywhere.”
- You do have times where you need to hustle. Without question, you’re not going to reach great heights as a creator or an entrepreneur without some 12–14 hour days, crazy stretches to meet deadlines, and 7-day workweeks
- if you’re running a venture-backed tech company, building spaceships, or trying to reach some billion-dollar valuation, then, yeah, you will have to ‘hustle till your eyes bleed.’
- The point isn’t to avoid hard work, but to be more efficient and avoid wasting time on useless tasks and effort that has diminishing marginal utility.
- “Two Core Abilities for Thriving in the New Economy 1. The ability to quickly master hard things. 2. The ability to produce at an elite level, in terms of both quality and speed.” — Cal Newport
- the most important tasks that move the needle require concentration
- You won’t have breakthroughs in your career or business if you don’t spend enough time focused intently on being creative
- What’s an important task? It depends on what you do for a living or for your business. It also depends on what stage of the process you’re in
- “The answer is not more hours, it’s less bullshit.” — Jason Fried