Deep work
Starting last week, I began following the advice of Sampath S, a globally recognized marketing expert, to work 3 to 4 hours a day focusing on one thing at a time. I have already noticed significant changes. Every day, I choose one area of my work, such as community management, preparing an email newsletter, or writing social media content, and spend 3 to 4 hours working without distractions, following a 50-minute work and 10-minute rest rhythm. I usually finish around 2 or 3 p.m., which is the perfect time to shut down my laptop, have lunch, go for a walk, take a shower, and do hobbies that fill me with positive energy and help me recover from cognitive fatigue. Some days, I also work an extra hour in the early evening doing light tasks. I am lucky because I work remotely on my own project. Most 9-to-5 employees cannot switch to this approach. I remember that during the hiring process at the PR agency where I used to work, the CEO mentioned they didn't rely on people who left the office before 8 p.m. Back then, the mantra was that successful people sleep 4 hours and work 60 hours per week, and we believed it. Even Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, once said, “If you don’t work 996 when you are young, when will you? Do you think never having to work 996 in your life is an honor to boast about?” There is this hypocrisy. Most founders accept that people can rarely do deep work for more than 4 hours a day, yet they still expect their employees to be behind their desks from 9 to 5. And then comes the excuse: if they work only 4 hours, let’s fill the rest of the time with meetings and shallow tasks to reach the 8-hour mark. Whenever I hear that, I want to ask, Why not simply shorten the workday? Wouldn’t it be fairer? We could also encourage asynchronous communication by stopping the expectation for people to respond instantly on Slack, allowing them to stay focused.