You were never built for the 8-hour workday
How I rewired my schedule around deep work, purpose, and presence
I work just four hours a day.
Not because I am lazy, or entitled, or chasing some minimalist fantasy of success, but because I have seen what happens when you chain your life to a system that was never built for your mind.
The 8-hour workday is a relic of the Industrial Age, designed for factory labour, where output was measured in how many bolts you turned, not how many ideas you shaped. But we still force knowledge workers to mimic that rhythm, renting out their attention like it is an infinite, unbreakable resource.
I used to play that game. Wake up, log in, meetings back to back, emails piling up, Slack/Teams blinking nonstop, energy dropping by the hour. I thought I was being productive, but what I was doing was slowly leaking life force into a model that rewards appearances over outcomes.
Until I realised focus is finite and your brain, no matter how disciplined, cannot function at full power for eight hours straight. Cal Newport calls it “the Thoreau schedule”, but I call it remembering that I’m a human being, not a battery.
Now I work in focused sprints, which are 60 to 90 minutes of deep work with a timer, then I stop, no matter how tempting it is to continue.
I rest, go for a walk, read something philosophical (Sahil Bloom’s five types of wealth is a current favourite), or dive into a long lecture on YouTube, whether it’s Naval, Watts, Gura, whoever expands my perception. Sometimes, I just sit in stillness and let my nervous system breathe. In those moments, I get my best ideas, not from force, but from space.
My meetings don’t start until midday, and my clients know this. They also know I show up to them fully charged, not half-present, because the evening belongs to my daughter, who is neurodiverse and needs my undivided presence, not the burnt-out shell I used to bring home when I followed the old script.
This is about precision, purpose and profit.
Because when you live and work in alignment with your nervous system, not the broken metrics of hustle culture, you get better at what matters. You become the kind of creator who builds from depth, not desperation, and you stop chasing performance for attention and start creating systems for transformation.
We were not made to live in mechanical loops; we were meant to evolve.
That is the real work. Finding a rhythm that sustains your energy and sharpens your contribution. Refining a life where the signal of your purpose is louder than the noise of obligation.
As Newport says, the productivity crisis is not solved by adding more hours, but by choosing the right hours. The human ones.
So if you are wondering why your work feels hollow, ask yourself what part of your schedule are you still optimising for a machine?
See you next Sunday.
Whenever you're ready, I can help you elevate your brand, communication, and leadership presence in four ways. You will get my “The Ultimate Storytelling Playbook” ebook as well:
Storytelling and communication strategy – Develop clear, compelling narratives that drive engagement, build trust, and deliver measurable results. This includes a 90-minute deep dive, storytelling audit, communication blueprint, and action plan with KPIs.
Leadership communication coaching – Gain confidence in public speaking and high-stakes conversations. Includes monthly 1:1 coaching, script reviews, audience training, and on-call support.
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Brand narrative workshops – Align your team with a unified brand voice. This full-day workshop includes interactive exercises, a custom workbook, and a follow-up communication plan.