How I Was Able To Accomplish More By Working Less
By: Carlos Hidalgo
Tags: Work, Business, Goals, Time Management, Work Life Balance

How I Was Able To Accomplish More By Working Less

Simply working more won’t get you any closer to your goals

Photo by K8 on Unsplash

I used to be an ardent disciple of the hustle culture; the philosophy that you work harder, faster, and longer than anyone else in order to accomplish your goals and dreams. I took great pride in the fact that on most days I was in my office cranking by 5:00 am and would work straight through the day. I enjoyed telling my colleagues about the lack of sleep I received all in the name of company growth and professional achievement.

I was all into this crazed culture until I hit a wall and realized that the ego and bravado of the hustle did not make me any better at what I did, it actually chipped away at me systematically until I had nothing left to give and I bottomed out . . . hard.

Since that rock bottom moment five years ago, I have made some wholesale changes in my relationship with work. I still work hard, but collectively reject the hustle and what I have found is that I accomplish more, I am closer to my life goals and have an all-around better quality of life than when I was working 12–14 hour days.

Below is a list of four things I did to ensure I accomplished more by working less.

I Established A Routine

As someone who has ADD, focus and routine is not something that traditionally has come easy for me. While I refuse to take any medication for this, despite my doctor’s urging, I have established a routine that works for me.

My routine is by no means rigid — like my one friend who told me he blocks time in his calendar each day for when he will take a shower, but it is a routine.

I begin each workday at the same time and start with responding to emails and checking in and responding to my social media feeds. I have times during the day where I check back but I no longer live by my inbox.

Additionally, I do whatever I can to avoid meetings on Mondays and Fridays as those days are scheduled to work on my client deliverables, writing, and thinking through new writing topics or new business concepts.

I also end my work at the same time each day. This is not to say that from time to time I do not put in an extra hour to meet a deadline, but having this consistency from week to week has helped me know what the next day holds and plan out what gets done and when which has led to increased productivity and better work quality.

I Aligned With My Body’s Natural Rhythms

A number of years ago I began working in what I called “sprints”. I would work for 90–120 minutes and then step away from my office and take a break of 15–20 minutes, before getting back to it. Little did I know at the time that I was actually working with my body’s natural Ultradian Rhythms.

According to Pilar Gerasimo, author of The Healthy Deviant, “Ultradian rhythms are natural, undulating cycles of energy — oscillating patterns of energy production and recovery — that occur in people (as well as in other living things) many times throughout the day.”

The science tells us that our brains are only capable of 90–120 minutes of sustained focus and energy and after that require a break to flush out all of the mental debris that has been accumulated. This is an opportunity to refresh and allows us to return to our work at full mental capacity.

By adopting this approach, I have seen big gains in my productivity and focus and am doing the best work of my career.

I Improved My Sleep Habits

Many entrepreneurs will tell you that sleep is overrated, I used to be one of them. Research conducted by The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7–9 hours of sleep for those between the ages of 18–64 and yet the CDC reports that 1 in 3 adults are not getting the required amount of sleep needed.

I now make it a habit to get 8–9 hours of sleep per night and have found that my decision making has improved, my thought processing is faster and clearer and that I am able to complete tasks in less time with less energy.

Sleep is foundational to our mental health and when making this a priority it will make us better at our work.

I Realized More Is Not Better

Simply working more hours does not necessarily translate into reaching your goals sooner or accomplishing more. In fact according to research highlighted by Harvard Business Review, working long hours can have adverse effects on workers and their companies.

As Sarah Green Carmichael, the author of the article states, “In sum, the story of overwork is literally a story of diminishing returns: keep overworking, and you’ll progressively work more stupidly on tasks that are increasingly meaningless.

If you want to improve your work performance or accomplish your professional goals, the answer is not working more hours, it may just be in working less.