What I Learned From Working 13.3 Hours a Day, 6 Days a Week [2021 Update]

A few years back, I decided to pursue my passion by taking a great opportunity with an incredible company (When I Work) in Minnesota. This was a huge change for me, since it followed the sale of the company that had been my life and blood for more than five years.

Unfortunately, this move meant that for about 18 months, I’d be living away from my wife (FYI: it sucks) and I’d have quite a bit of time to kill.

I’m the kind of guy that needs to keep busy, so by December 2014, after almost a year of doing pretty much nothing else except going to work (and skydiving on the weekends), I began to get really antsy. The need to be doing something a little different got my creative juices flowing, and I started to think up and work on some new ideas.

The first project I really got my teeth into was the growth hacking ebook I wrote with my good friend Rob Wormley: 100 Days of Growth. Then, at the end of my year and a half in Minnesota, my next ebook on content marketing was up for pre-order.

Getting the book to completion took around 50 hours each for both Rob and I, including a lot of hours spent testing new marketing tactics.

However, as “that guy” who always needs to be doing something to keep busy, I’m also not the kind of person to do things halfway. Once I put my mind to something, I work my ass off until it’s finished. This meant that, between my day job and my work on 100 Days of Growth, I spent 6 months working more than 13 hours a day, 6 days a week. That’s almost two-and-a-half times more than the average American workweek.

It was tough going, but thankfully, our efforts paid off. The book has been a great success and has sold well over 10,000 copies to date, which gave me a ton of confidence as I moved forward with other new projects.

This is the story of how I did it …

My daily schedule

My (week) days were long, and I ran myself ragged (luckily, I really enjoy hard work). My daily schedule was as follows:

5.30am – 6.00am: I’d get up at about 5.30am, and by 6am, I’d be logged on and checking my email.

7.00am – 8.30am: Answering email would take until around 7am, at which point I’d head to the gym for my morning workout.

8.30am – 6.00pm: 8.30 sharp would see me start my day job (the one I moved to Minnesota for) at When I Work.

6.00pm – 8.00pm: I tended to play it by ear a little during this part of the day, but I’d generally spend the time honing business relationships or training clients (either over the phone, via Clarity, in a video chat, or in person), and I’d usually manage to squeeze in dinner, too.

8.00pm – 11.30pm: This is when I’d be testing, writing blog posts, and working on personal projects like 100 Days of Growth, a new tool called Content Marketer that I was developing at the time, and a second ebook: Content Marketing Playbook.

Sidenote: if you’re interested in how other successful people schedule their days, check out this article on the daily routines of over 160 Fortune 500 Executives, or this one on the daily rituals of billionaire CEOs.

Weekends were a little less rigid, but almost as busy.

I’d spend Sundays reviewing everything I’d been testing and proving during the week, and working out how I could apply this stuff to my day job at When I Work.

Some days, I’d find myself absorbed more in my personal projects; on others, my day job took precedence. It would just depend on where my findings led me.

Saturdays were my “day of rest.” Sort of. If I hadn’t managed to speak to my wife during the week (I don’t know why, but she never really appreciated my midnight phone calls …), I’d make the time to have a good long chat on the phone or over Skype. If I was really lucky, she might even come and visit me.

Saturday was also my chance to get my adrenaline flowing with some extreme sports. My first choice was always skydiving, but that’s not exactly an option year-round in Minnesota. Depending on the time of year, you might catch me snowmobiling, kiteboarding, or racing cars instead.

Basically, it was really, really hard work. Too many hours working, and not enough relaxing.

But it was well worth it. My life is now better than ever as a direct result, and I learned a heck of a lot along the way…

Here’s what it taught me.

1. Hard work pays off

Hard work pays off. Every. Single. Time

It sounds so simple, but I wish I’d realized this sooner and started working as hard I have been recently for the five years I was running Single Grain.

Working 12+ hours a day may seem like a big sacrifice at first (and it is), but if the work is leading to a situation where you can work fewer hours or have more flexibility in your working day (such as by setting up your own company) down the road, then it’s so very worth it.

Put it this way: would you rather…

1. Work 12 hours a day for a few years, then 3 hours a day (when and where you want) for the remainder of your working life? Or …
2. Work 8 to 9 hours a day, when and where your boss tells you to, for that same remainder of your working life?

Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Even better, anyone can work hard. It’s the great equalizer, giving every one of us the opportunity to succeed. It’s not dependent on money, location, or even talent.

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” ~Stephen King

Ultimately, natural talent or ability at something gives you nothing but a slight head start over someone else. However, you’ll inevitably be passed by someone working harder if you rely on talent alone. You’ve got to push yourself to enhance that talent with new skills, experiences, and training.

Talent may be the fire, but hard work is the fuel. Give that flame what it needs to grow bigger, brighter, and stronger.

“It seems the harder I work, the more luck I have.” ~Thomas Jefferson

2. Passion is my energy

Of course, working that hard for that long is mentally and physically exhausting (to say the least), but what hopefully keeps us going are the new passions we discover along the way.

Take my experience at When I Work, for example. We were growing at 3-4x year-on-year, which is massive growth. We had a great mission that I was proud to be a part of (to help the 80+ million hourly workers out there), and a really incredible team that I was thrilled to be working with side-by-side.

But most of all, I loved teaching and helping people, and by blogging, speaking, writing 100 Days of Growth, creating ContentMarketer.io and working on yet another ebook, I was able to do what I loved day in, day out.

But enough about me. I promise there’s a message here.

If you can find something you love doing – not something you don’t mind doing, but something that literally makes you jump out of bed in the morning – then that’s going to feed your passion and give you the energy you need to be the success you want, and deserve, to be.

Passion drives the hard work.

But as the saying goes, find a job that you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.

So my message to you is: do whatever it takes to find your passion and live your dream. For me, that meant temporarily moving halfway across the country, living away from my family and friends, and working very, very long days.

I made a lot of sacrifices, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

3. Where my weaknesses lie

Like most of us, I don’t like talking about my weaknesses. I’m only human, though, which means I have them. We all do.

The toughest interview question anyone can be asked (or ask) is “What are your weaknesses?”

You know you have them – and the interviewer knows you have them – but you still worry you might say the wrong thing. To answer it, you need to be completely honest, without putting off your potential future employer. No wonder it’s one of the 8 most-asked interview questions.

I think if we can all start to be a bit more comfortable with our weaknesses – for example, by accepting that none of us are perfect, and that we all have things we’re good and not so good at – then not only will we be much happier with ourselves, we’ll also be far better teachers, managers, and teammates to those we have to work with.

Personally, I suck at building things – whether it’s flat-pack furniture or a website. I have a lot of good ideas, and I’m great at visualizing them and describing them to others. But when it actually comes to making my ideas come to life, I have to partner with a developer who helps me turn them into a reality.

I’m also not the best organizer. I put this down to being a creative type rather than someone with a logical, organized mind. However, there are ways around this …

I get distracted easily, and that causes me to lose my train of thought or forget things that happened earlier in the day. I’ve realized, though, that I can make a big difference in how organized I am by taking notes.

Not on paper.

They get mixed up, lost, or destroyed.

Instead, I use Evernote for jotting down the random thoughts I need to remember. Popular alternatives include OneNote, Google Keep, Simplenote, or Dropbox Paper.

For actually organizing my work and collaborating with colleagues, I use Asana. You could also try Trello, Todoist, Brief, or Basecamp.  

I realize that no tool will ever be able to put together my next flat-pack closet for me. But I also know that, although there are many weaknesses that I can’t entirely overcome, I can minimize their impact by making the most of the tools and technologies that are available to me or by working with people that have the strengths I lack.

Identifying your true weaknesses – and strengths for that matter – is a worthwhile endeavor for everyone, regardless of age, occupation, or industry.

You’re probably acutely aware of them already. If not, try looking at a list of common ones to see if any jump off the page at you.

And don’t be so quick to identify them as one or the other. Sometimes, the things we believe are strengths are actually weaknesses when you step back and take a closer look.

“A better definition of a strength is an activity that makes you feel strong. And a weakness is an activity that makes you feel weak. Even if you’re good at it, if it drains you, that’s a weakness.” ~Marcus Buckingham, Author and Strengths Revolutionist

Don’t compare yourself to others. Be specific. Put everything into context. If an identified weakness does not impact your personal or professional goals, don’t prioritize it.

Understand your weaknesses better so you can learn to navigate through or around them.

4. How to stretch time

During this period, I was working on so many things concurrently that I had to figure out how to be more efficient with my time.

For example, I’d outsource remedial tasks to a virtual assistant or freelancer. For others, I just stopped doing them altogether.

I also became more efficient myself; by doing certain tasks repeatedly I became much quicker at completing them. I also became better at them, which was a nice, and somewhat unexpected bonus.

Lastly, I became more disciplined with myself. It can be damn difficult (and I’m sure anyone who has ever worked for themselves will agree) to motivate yourself when you don’t have a boss leaning over your shoulder, or targets to hit that aren’t your own.

You need to be motivated and disciplined all on your own.

If anything, that was the toughest thing for me to overcome. I did it by setting small targets (i.e. work solidly for an hour and I can have x as a treat), and by reminding myself that the more I allowed myself to be distracted, the longer I would actually have to work.

Repeat that like a mantra.

Other hacks include making a to-do list (keep it limited though), making choices in advance that set you up for success (distracted by social media? Block it each morning with an app, extension, or program), articulating the bigger purpose of each task, and more.

Discover the secrets of self-discipline and watch them improve all aspects of your life.

These are all things that I’ve carried into my new somewhat-more-relaxed working life (don’t get me wrong, I still work hard – just not “13 hours, 6 days a week” hard).

If I have a task that I know someone else can do just as well as me, I tend to outsource it (assuming, of course, that outsourcing won’t cost me more than the value I put on the time I’ll save).

I’ve also learned valuable self-discipline skills, as well as how to write faster and better, and how to simply get the very most out of every minute of my working day.

These are things I don’t think I could have learned without putting myself in the position of wanting to achieve so much in such a short amount of time. Sometimes, trial by fire is the best teacher.

5. The importance of networking

Over a 6-month period, I spoke to 117 new people (typically one new person per day).

There was no real agenda to this; I just wanted to exchange ideas, help others where I could, and get help from them where I could. But HOLY CRAP was this monumental to my growth.

The advice I got was incredible. The advice I gave made a few people’s careers. And you know what? Connecting with people is just fun and good for the soul.

It did wonders for my confidence, and I don’t exactly classify myself as the shy, retiring type. I’ve always been happy to and enjoyed speaking with strangers, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t room to improve my social and interpersonal skills by interacting with more people, more often. It’s an excellent exercise for everyone.

In my situation – long days, filled largely by a personal project – it would have been easy to become introverted and forget about the world outside my work. But that would have been a bad move.

By networking as much as possible, I’ve built amazing relationships with people who have helped (and I’m sure will continue to help) propel my growth, as well as many people I now consider friends.

If there’s a takeaway for my readers here, I’d say it’s to be a “yes man.” If an opportunity to network comes up, take it. Don’t let busy schedules, social shyness, or (and this is something I had to push through of plenty times) the urge to have an early night, get in the way.

If you say “no,” you might just miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime – and that would suck.

Regardless of your industry, networking on some level should be scheduled into your time. Seize the opportunities. Be proactive. Be strategic. And enjoy yourself.

Networking is a skill that anyone can master. Speaking of which…

6. Practice makes perfect

While I’m on a “being open and honest with you” roll, I’ve got more to reveal: I used to suck at public speaking, and writing wasn’t exactly my strongest skill either. It used to take me between four and five hours to write a blog post, whereas it now takes 30-45 minutes.

As I mentioned before, part of this came down to self-discipline. As much as I love the internet (it’s my livelihood, after all), it can also be a major pain point for me. When there’s an endless stream of information and entertainment available at my fingertips, it’s easy to get distracted.

And I’m not alone.

According to recent studies, almost two-thirds of us admit to wasting time at work. We waste an average of 3.9 working hours each week watching videos and checking social media, and 10% of middle or upper management personnel admit to wasting 3+ hours each day.

Learning how to stay focused played a big part in improving my ability to write (and work) faster. But actually practicing was important too.

I think something we often forget is that no one is born perfect at anything. Even the most “natural” of actors take lessons. Musicians have to be taught. Writers have to learn.

Although many of us have an innate ability or natural aptitude towards certain skills, that doesn’t mean those of us who struggle a little more in a particular area can’t become masters too.

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” ~Tim Notke, basketball coach

It’s widely believed that it takes 10,000 hours to learn a new skill.

However, according to Josh Kaufman, author of The First Twenty Hours and The Personal MBA, this is actually untrue. And I have to agree with him.

Josh believes it takes 10,000 hours to “become an expert in an ultra competitive field,” while you can actually become proficient at a new skill in just 20 hours. That works out to about 45 minutes per day for a month.

Can you spare 45 minutes each day to learn one new skill each month? Is that a worthwhile investment of your finite time? (hint: yes)

Of course, that’s a ballpark figure. We’re all different. Some of us will learn faster in certain areas than others, and some skills are just more difficult to master. But, my personal experiences have shown me that we can drastically improve our abilities in certain areas if we put our minds to it, and if we take the time needed to practice, practice, practice.

It’s a cliché, but practice really does make perfect. Although, to be fair, we might amend that to say deliberate practice with a coach, expert, or teacher. And starting is the easiest part: just start. Today.

7. How to turn boredom into productivity

Initially, when I was away from my friends, family, and, most importantly, my wife, I was bored out of mind.

I was so used to being around people I loved and that made me love life, that I was at a loss for what to do with myself during the hours I wasn’t working.

Eventually I remembered something … the old saying “Only boring people get bored.” It hit me – I wasn’t a boring person, but I was at risk of becoming boring if I didn’t snap myself out of that apathy.

So I started off by having lots of fun. I pinpointed all of Minnesota’s extreme sports hotspots, started eating out (even if I sometimes had to go alone), and made sure to make time to network with somebody new, every single day.

Once I’d managed to drag myself out of my self-induced boredom (because whatever the reason we think we’re bored, at the end of the day, we’re the only person who has the power to do anything about it), I found it was far easier to turn my downtime into productive time.

I needed that period of boredom in order to filter out the noise in my life and realize what I really, genuinely wanted to do with all that extra time.

The boredom did, in hindsight, do me a whole lot of good.

But it’s not just me that believes a bout of boredom can benefit us.

According to a study published in the Academy of Management Discoveries, a period of boredom can spark both productivity and creativity.

Study after study is revealing that not doing anything is sometimes the most productive thing you can do.

Simply put, our minds need a chance to get lost in themselves in order to discover new things and connect new ideas.

Boredom can also serve as a wake-up call:

“In the absence of boredom, one would remain trapped in unfulfilling situations, and miss out on many emotionally, cognitively, and socially rewarding experiences. Boredom is both a warning that we are not doing what we want to be doing and a ‘push’ that motivates us to switch goals and projects.” ~Andreas Elpidorou, Researcher and Philosophy Professor

Or in other words, boredom leads us towards activities that are more productive and meaningful.

Now, I’m not saying that boredom doesn’t drive some people to act irresponsibly or do stupid things. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that chronic boredom actually encourages some people to engage in risk-taking behavior.

However, there are many ways to channel boredom. I chose to channel my boredom by using the time to do something that would not only mean big changes in that precise moment, but that would help make big changes in my future too.

So next time you’re bored, don’t try to pass the time playing Candy Crush on your phone or doing something silly that you know you probably shouldn’t do. Launch your website. Start writing an ebook. Learn a new skill.

You’ll kill your boredom and feel great about yourself for it. But it all requires allowing that boredom to sneak in and make an appearance in the first place. We live in a world that abhors boredom, so we try and fill every waking moment with side hustle or… something.

Don’t. Get bored. Then do something about it.

8. Track Time

Putting in so many hours obviously gets exhausting at times. And most people only have an attention span of 20 minutes. While you can get re-focused on something throughout the day, you need to manage your time.

Tracking your time is one way to do this, combined with short and frequent breaks. One of my favorite methods to maximize productivity (while lengthening the amount of time I’m actually doing high quality work) is the pomodoro technique.

How the Pomodoro Technique Works

The pomodoro technique is actually very simple in practice. It involves bursts of work separated by breaks. You track your time and keep yourself on pace by setting a timer.

Some people like setting their work sessions for 25 or 30 minutes, followed by a 5 or 10 minute break. Personally, I like 15 or 20 minute work sessions followed by a 3 or 5 minute break — based on the research on attention spans.

You can use your phone, an old fashioned kitchen timer, or one of several free online pomodoro apps like Tomato Timer.

Deep Work

Now of course, there are times when I make expectations. If I’m doing “deep work” or thinking, it can change my mental state. I sometimes let the ideas flow without interruption. Deep work sessions can go for an hour or more, and I don’t want breaks. This is especially true if I don’t have other items on the agenda that day.

Deep work aside, tracking time is a huge boost to productivity. And when you know you only need to sit down and concentrate for less than 20 minutes, you’re less likely to procrastinate.

9. Focus On the Outcome

Working hard is…well…hard. And for that reason a lot of people lose steam along the way or they completely burn out. Like I mentioned, passion is my motivation. It’s fuel for the fire. So when the going gets tough, I re-focus on the outcome I want.

If you haven’t clarified the outcomes you want, you should do that immediately after reading this post. It will help you connect all the effort you’re doing with the exciting reulsts at the end of the tunnel.

Types of Outcomes

Outcomes — or goals — differe depending on where you’re currently at in your personal or professional life. And the first distinction between outcomes is timeline:

Long Term

These are the big, juicy goals swirling around in your head. They may take years or even decades to achieve. Try to remind yourself how the actions you’re taking right now contribute to your biggest, long term goals — even if indirectly.

Short Term

These goals can be juicy and exciting as well. However, many of them will be stepping stones to your larger goals. Short term goals fall in the 3, 6, or even 12 month range. They help with motivation because you can almost feel them. You know you can realistically achieve them in a few short months.

10. Put Things in Perspective

One of the most important life lessons I’ve come to internalize is the power of perspective. Yes, putting in 6-day weeks is hard work. But at the end of that hard work, I get rewarded with incredible opportunities that most people would envy.

And even during the process, I enjoy first-world amenities, fulfilling relationships, and fun hobbies. Compare that to someone working just as hard you or me…but living in a desolate, dirty city making a few dollars per day.

Develop Gratitude

Gratitude is an excellent pairing with perspective. It’s proven to be linked to more positive emotions. And it doesn’t have to be some hour-long meditation. Just jotting a few simple things you’re grateful for in the morning goes a long way.

You can be grateful for coffee, for your significant other, for your home, for your health, or even for just being alive. It’s a mega shortcut to putting things in perspective — to realizing that as difficult as the journey might seem, life’s actually pretty good.

How about you? Have you ever gone through a period of hard work on something you cared about deeply? Share your story in the comments below: