How Can Some People Work 10+ Hours / Day?

[Raphael]

We all know these stories about people working 10, 12, 14, 16 hours per day for weeks or months. I personally don't understand how something like this is humanly possible. What is the mindset behind this? How are these people able to work that much without exploding?

Most of the work that I do is programming which is incredibly cognitively demanding. After 25 - 30 hours, I already feel tired. I pushed it sometimes in the past, however after 40 hours, it becomes too much for me.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Raphael

[BartekD]

I think its 100% emotionally driven, coding is very demanding for me as well and I dont know anyone that codes more then 40+ hours a week, even thats a lot. That being said I have worked 14-16 hour days before for a few months but I wasnt coding all the time, coding the product is only a part of the equation, you still have to work on marketing and design, as well as making heavy judgement calls.

The reason why I say its 100% emotionally driven is because this work load was coming from a deep dissatisfaction of where I was in, in life and gave me no option of wasting time. If I slacked off for a few minutes I would feel guilt and anger that Im not progressing and my current situation would not change (not healthy I know). But ultimately it was all worth it and it got me into a great position to leverage my skills and knowledge to find work that pays very well and allows me to pursue what I am genuinely and creatively excited to do on a day to day basis

There are other factors too though like health, if youre not very healthy it will be difficult to work, if your testosterone levels are low you will not be as motivated and more. But I think the most important reason is why you would even want to do that lol. If you have a great reason that truly resonates with you as to why you even want to work that much, then I would set up systems around you to help you do that, get rid of distractions as much as possible and go all in. 

 

[Raphael]

@BartekD Even if it was emotionally in your case, what impact did it have on your health? Did you feel like you would explode at some point?

[diamondpenguin]

@Raphael @BartekD Honestly you guys are straight up troopers. I can't code for more than an hour without my asshole falling off. It's just so demanding mentally, it's nuts. Are you guys like introverts? 

[Raphael]

2 hours ago, diamondpenguin said:

@Raphael @BartekD Honestly you guys are straight up troopers. I can't code for more than an hour without my asshole falling off. It's just so demanding mentally, it's nuts. Are you guys like introverts? 

Yes, I'm an introvert. I'm personally fine coding for ~4 hours per day, however, after 4 hours I feel that I'm starting to overdo it.

[LfcCharlie4]

I think in the early phases of setting up a business, it kinda is essential & that's why I hate a lot of these online courses selling the dream of 'you need no time or money!!" its just not true lmao. 

However, I've built my business over the last 3 years and in summer I'm always way busier just with life, so I'm going to try this system throughout summer-

https://medium.com/mind-cafe/the-4-hour-work-day-a-productivity-system-for-entrepreneurs-and-knowledge-workers-5ce0a09ae2c3

[BartekD]

@Raphael

22 hours ago, Raphael said:

Even if it was emotionally in your case, what impact did it have on your health? Did you feel like you would explode at some point?

Yes and no, its kind of the "youre doomed if you do and youre doomed if you dont" scenario. At the time I worked at a warehouse and the feeling of going to a place that has the color scheme of a fucking doughnut with bosses that act like children, to appeal to their other bosses who act like children. Being passive agressively told to work OT all the time, doing mind numbing work that literally has no value to society and is damaging society at best. We were able to have a headphone in one ear though which felt good in the beginning because I was able to listen to podcasts, actualized.org, books (100s of them). But after a while I realized that all I was doing was distracting myself from the pain that that job provided (mentally). It was so fucking dry and boring that it felt like I was plugging into the matrix when I put my headphones in to become distracted for the next 8 hours. Not a good feeling, there is more to it and I can still vividly feel the emotions I felt at the time. Id literally go to the bathroom and cry and have mental breakdowns because of the anger and disappointment I felt within myself, I never went to colllege either so I could not see a way out of that mess which made it all worse. 

So in a sense I did feel like I was going to explode, but not because I was working so much, working alot on my own projects gave me energy and made me have hope for the future, it gave me a sense of power too. The feeling of actually fixing your life is very motivating. I did lose a lot of sleep and stopped eating correctly as well and stopped exercising all together but it was worth it in the end. 

I think if you want to start a business, fix a piece of your life or what not it will take a lot of work initially and you have to have a good reason for why you even want to do it in the first place. I dont really see a point in working that much otherwise, unless you have a big mission in your life that you want to see come to fruition. 

 

[flume]

Depends on the work you do. If your work is really aligned with your values and strengths it won’t even feel like "work". That's why the LP course is so valuable, it helps you find what you're naturally passionate about and inspired by. If you tap into that and find a way to really align your life with it, work will basically be effortless.

For 99% of people that are working so much though, they're probably just "grinding” away because they feel trapped. Like mothers working two jobs to have enough money to buy food for their children or businessmen who are never content with the amount of money they make. They're more likely to have terrible sleep and eating patterns as a result and their general health and emotional wellbeing will suffer. That's detrimental for your health, especially on the long term. So "working a lot" isn't something we should aspire to do as some kind of virtue imo. We're finding out more and more that people are more content and healthy in countries where you can survive on less hours of work.

Universal basic income is a must imo so that everyone gets the space to find out how much and what kind of work is good for them. If pressure is taken off, creativity can flow.

[BartekD]

@flume Percisely. Although I'm not sure if ubi would be the ideal way to go about it. I think just being able to have food, basic transportation, roof over your head and a communication device would enable people to pursue what they are genuinely interested in

[Yarco]

You have to build up to it gradually. You can't go straight from 0 hours per day to 10 hours per day. And if you fall out of the habit, it's like when you stop exercising and get out of shape. You have to start all over again re-building your stamina and work ethic. I know first-hand because I used to be super productive. Then I slacked for months during covid. Now I'm trying to get that work ethic back but it's tough. It's the same kind of willpower you need to not eat bad food when you're on a diet.

If you do want to work 10 hours a day and actually be productive, then you need to make that your only focus in life for a while. It will take all your energy. You won't even be able to cook for yourself, or clean your own house while working that much.

Also find out what works for you. For me, the earlier I wake up the more productive I am. If I wake up at 5 am, I can get a whole day's work done by noon. But whether I sleep in or start early, I'm losing energy and motivation by noon. For other people they are the opposite and more productive at night.

[Leo Gura]

1) Many programmers lead very unhealthy lifestyles. And they will pay for it long-term.

2) Some people have stronger energy/health just naturally and can work twice was much as other people. Genetics plays a big role. Do not just assume that all humans have the same stamina. Some people have way more stamina than others. And the food you eat over your lifetime greatly affects this too.

3) People who work that much often end up sick or burned out after 10 years.

[Preety_India]

2 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

1) Many programmers lead very unhealthy lifestyles. And they will pay for it long-term.

2) Some people have stronger energy/health just naturally and can work twice was much as other people. Genetics plays a big role. Do not just assume that all humans have the same stamina. Some people have way more stamina than others. And the food you eat over your lifetime greatly affects this too.

3) People who work that much often end up sick or burned out after 10 years.

What would you say to a person who puts all of their life into their life purpose?

 

[Eternal Unity]

Join The 5 AM Club.

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Preety_India said:

What would you say to a person who puts all of their life into their life purpose?

Watch my video on The Importance Of Balance In Personal Development.

[Rajneeshpuram]

My supervisor works 12h a day, he has no life.

I cannot understand why he does that. Suprisingy he often receives packages from amazon at work, he is addicted to buy gadgets and stupid things, this is his coping mechanism.

[Raphael]

18 hours ago, flume said:

Depends on the work you do. If your work is really aligned with your values and strengths it won’t even feel like "work". That's why the LP course is so valuable, it helps you find what you're naturally passionate about and inspired by. If you tap into that and find a way to really align your life with it, work will basically be effortless.

I agree.

18 hours ago, flume said:

For 99% of people that are working so much though, they're probably just "grinding” away because they feel trapped. Like mothers working two jobs to have enough money to buy food for their children or businessmen who are never content with the amount of money they make. They're more likely to have terrible sleep and eating patterns as a result and their general health and emotional wellbeing will suffer. That's detrimental for your health, especially on the long term. So "working a lot" isn't something we should aspire to do as some kind of virtue imo. We're finding out more and more that people are more content and healthy in countries where you can survive on less hours of work.

I agree again. I don't aspire to be working 60h+ / week, I'm astonished by people who do that even when they are no physical survival necessities.

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

2) Some people have stronger energy/health just naturally and can work twice was much as other people. Genetics plays a big role. Do not just assume that all humans have the same stamina. Some people have way more stamina than others. And the food you eat over your lifetime greatly affects this too.

Yeah, I think I probably lack a bit of stamina.

How much do you work by the way?

Edited April 25, 2021 by Raphael

[Average Investor]

Slow and steady wins the race in my experience. I can work 2 hours a day on my business and gradually do more, than working tons of hours. The effect of the work wears down into less and less if you spend too much time on it. Dedicated, focused, and deliberate work gets you much further. I've done the 80 hours a week stuff and it got me to where I did not want to work part of the year and likely cost me more than just doing a bit gradually. Although, at the time I needed to get the business working. 

I also have hours of work for my business that are just fun. I usually don't need to worry about the time spent doing that. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Average Investor

[Hello from Russia]

The EMF stuff (bad radiowaves) can actually hinder your energy too. Give turning off Wi-Fi during the night a go and turning your phone on Airplane mode

Edited April 25, 2021 by Hello from Russia

[Espaim]

Stimulants

[Nahm]

 

On 4/23/2021 at 5:12 AM, Raphael said:

How are these people able to work that much without exploding?

Inspiration.