There was a time, years ago, when I had it all figured out. I organized my work days around a simple principle: four hours of intense, focused work on client projects. From 10 am to 2 pm every day, I was in the zone — cranking out high-quality work for the people who were paying me. No distractions, no excuses.
Then, from 2 pm onwards, I shifted gears. I caught up on my reading, wrote my own pieces, and gave myself the space to think deeply about the big questions in my field. It was a beautiful system: four hours of productivity, followed by four hours of learning and growth.
But then I started working with other people, and everything changed. Collaboration is great, but it doesn’t always play nicely with rigid schedules and deep work. My four-hour sprint became a thing of the past.
However, every so often, I come across articles and stories that remind me of the power of focused work. They make a compelling case that maybe, just maybe, there’s something to be said for limiting the amount of time we spend grinding away on other people’s projects. Not only can it boost our productivity, but it might just make us happier and healthier too.
It’s food for thought. And who knows? Maybe one of these days, I’ll give the four-hour workday another shot. It worked wonders for me before — perhaps it could again. In a world that’s constantly demanding more of our time and attention, there’s something deeply appealing about the idea of reclaiming some of that time for ourselves.