I used to judge founders who said they worked 20 hours a week.
Thought they were either lying or not serious. "Must be nice" energy.
I was grinding 60-70 hours. That felt like real work.
Now I work 20-30 hours a week. Revenue is higher than when I was burning out.
Turns out I wasn't working hard before. I was just inefficient and calling it hustle.
The Hustle Culture Lie
Everyone preaches it:
Gary Vee: "Hustle until your haters ask if you're hiring."
Naval: "You're not going to get rich renting out your time."
Every LinkedIn influencer: "While you're sleeping, I'm grinding."
The narrative: More hours = more success. If you're not exhausted, you're not trying hard enough.
Where this comes from: Industrial age thinking. When output was linear (more widgets per hour), more hours meant more results.
Why it persists: Hustle culture makes people feel virtuous about being inefficient. "I worked 80 hours this week" sounds impressive. "I solved the same problem in 8 hours" doesn't.
The uncomfortable truth: Most "hard work" is just poorly organized work.
My 60-Hour Delusion
2022-2023: The Grinding Phase
- Hours worked: 60-70 per week
- SimpleDirect revenue: ~$12K MRR
- Energy level: Constantly exhausted
- Sunday Night Test score: 2/4 (dreading Monday)
- Actual productive work: Maybe 15-20 hours per week
Where the other 45 hours went:
Meetings that didn't need to happen:
- Daily standup with 2 people (just Slack me)
- Weekly strategy sessions (we knew what to build)
- Customer feedback calls (read the support tickets)
- "Alignment" meetings (translation: no one wanted to make decisions)
Tasks I should have delegated:
- Writing blog posts (hired writers for $50/hour)
- Customer support (hired VA in Philippines for $8/hour)
- Social media scheduling (automated with Buffer)
- Basic coding tasks (AI tools now handle this)
Busywork that felt productive but wasn't:
- Optimizing conversion rates from 2.1% to 2.3%
- A/B testing button colors
- Reading every startup newsletter
- "Researching" competitors for hours
I was confusing activity with productivity. Motion with progress. Busy with effective.
The Efficiency Breakthrough
What changed in late 2023:
1. AI Tools Eliminated Busy Work
- Cursor writes code 10x faster than I could
- Claude handles research and analysis
- Make automates entire workflows
- ChatGPT drafts emails and documents
Time saved: 20-25 hours per week
2. Delegation Actually Worked
- India team handles development work
- Contractors manage support and operations
- Automated systems handle routine tasks
Time saved: 15-20 hours per week
3. Ruthless Priority Setting
- Sunday Night Test eliminated draining activities
- Only work on things that move revenue
- "No" became my default answer
Time saved: 10-15 hours per week
Total time reclaimed: 45-60 hours per week
Revenue impact: Up 3x
The 20-Hour Reality
Current weekly schedule:
Monday (4 hours):
- Review weekend metrics (30 min)
- Team sync with India developers (1 hour)
- Strategic decisions only (2.5 hours)
Tuesday (6 hours):
- Content creation (2 hours)
- Sales calls/partnerships (2 hours)
- Product decisions (2 hours)
Wednesday (4 hours):
- Customer feedback review (1 hour)
- Financial planning/analysis (1 hour)
- New opportunity evaluation (2 hours)
Thursday (6 hours):
- Deep work on highest-impact project (4 hours)
- Weekly planning for next week (1 hour)
- Team feedback and direction (1 hour)
Friday-Sunday (0-2 hours):
- Emergency fixes only
- Mostly offline
Total: 20-22 hours of actual work
Revenue: 3x higher than 60-hour weeks
Energy level: Consistently high
Sunday Night Test: 4/4 (excited for Monday)
What I Actually Do With Those 20 Hours
High-Impact Activities Only:
1. Revenue-Generating Work (60%)
- Sales calls and partnership negotiations
- Product decisions that affect user experience
- Content that drives leads
- Strategic planning for growth
2. Team Direction (25%)
- Clear instruction to contractors/employees
- Weekly sync and feedback
- Removing blockers for others
- Hiring decisions
3. Learning and Planning (15%)
- Market research that affects strategy
- Financial analysis and planning
- Skill development in high-leverage areas
- Network building with key people
Everything else: Eliminated, automated, or delegated.
The Avoidance Trap
Caught myself redesigning the website last week.
New fonts. Better spacing. Cleaner layout.
Told myself it was important.
It wasn't.
I was avoiding sales calls.
The pattern: When we're avoiding something important, we do something that feels productive but isn't.
Common avoidance activities:
New website? Probably avoiding sales.
Hiring discussions? Probably avoiding a hard conversation with current team.
"Strategy work"? Probably avoiding execution.
Reading about productivity? Probably avoiding actual work.
Reorganizing workspace? Probably avoiding difficult decisions.
The rule: The thing you're avoiding is usually the thing that matters.
Why Founders Stay Inefficient
1. Busy Feels Important 60-hour weeks make you feel like you're building something significant. 20-hour weeks feel "too easy."
But: Results matter, not effort. Revenue matters, not hours.
2. Fear of Being Seen as Lazy "What will people think if I say I only work 20 hours?"
But: People respect results, not effort. $50K MRR in 20 hours beats $15K MRR in 60 hours.
3. Impostor Syndrome "Real founders grind 80 hours. If I'm not grinding, I'm not a real founder."
But: Real founders optimize for outcomes, not inputs.
4. Lack of Systems "I'm the only one who can do this right."
But: If you're the only one who can do it, you haven't built a business. You've built a job.
5. Poor Delegation Skills "It's faster to do it myself."
But: Faster once, slower forever. Teaching someone takes time upfront, saves time long-term.
If you're finding this useful, I send essays like this 2-3x per week.
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The Productivity Stack That Changed Everything
AI Tools (Replace 25 hours/week):
- Cursor: Code writing and debugging
- Claude: Research, analysis, writing
- ChatGPT: Email drafts, documentation
- Make: Workflow automation
Offshore Team (Replace 20 hours/week):
- 2 developers in India: $3,200/month total
- 1 VA in Philippines: $1,200/month
- 1 part-time designer: $800/month
Systems and Automation (Replace 15 hours/week):
- ConvertKit: Email marketing automation
- Calendly: Meeting scheduling
- Stripe: Payment processing and billing
- Notion: Documentation and process tracking
Total cost: ~$6,000/month
Time saved: 60 hours/week
ROI: Massive (revenue up 3x, time down 75%)
The Sunday Night Test Revolution
Before: Sunday night dread. Monday felt like punishment.
After: Sunday night excitement. Monday means progress.
What changed: I only work on things that energize me now.
The test: Sunday night, 9 PM. How do you feel about tomorrow's work?
- 1 = Dread (stop doing this)
- 2 = Neutral (probably stop)
- 3 = Positive (keep doing)
- 4 = Excited (do more of this)
Anything scoring 1-2 gets eliminated, automated, or delegated.
This single change eliminated 40+ hours of soul-crushing work per week.
What 20-Hour Weeks Actually Look Like
Monday Morning Reality Check:
- Review what actually moved revenue last week
- Kill anything that didn't contribute
- Plan only high-impact activities for this week
No More:
- Meetings for the sake of meetings
- Busy work disguised as strategy
- Tasks that "someone should do" but don't matter
- Perfectionism on low-impact activities
Yes More:
- Direct revenue activities
- High-leverage decisions
- Strategic relationship building
- Skills that compound over time
The result: Every hour of work feels meaningful. No more grinding for the sake of grinding.
The Revenue Paradox
Working 60 hours: $12K MRR, constantly stressed, Sunday night dread
Working 20 hours: $35K MRR, high energy, Sunday night excitement
How is this possible?
1. AI 10x'd my individual productivity What took me 8 hours now takes 45 minutes with Cursor + Claude.
2. Systems eliminated repetitive work Automation handles everything that doesn't require judgment.
3. Focus eliminated waste Only working on things that directly impact revenue.
4. Energy created better decisions Well-rested brain makes better strategic choices.
5. Time scarcity forced prioritization With only 20 hours, every hour has to count.
The counterintuitive truth: Constraints create efficiency. Abundance creates waste.
Common Objections (And My Responses)
"That only works for certain businesses."
Maybe. But most knowledge work is 80% waste, 20% value creation. The ratio is universal.
"My industry requires long hours."
Does it? Or does your industry have a culture problem? Most "long hours" industries are just inefficient.
"Customers expect immediate responses."
Set expectations. Most "urgent" things aren't actually urgent. True emergencies are rare.
"I can't afford the tools and team you use."
Start small. One AI tool ($20/month) and one VA ($1,000/month) can save 20+ hours per week.
"I don't trust others to do it right."
Then you're not building a business, you're building a job. Businesses scale. Jobs don't.
The New Success Metrics
Old metrics:
- Hours worked per week
- Number of meetings attended
- Tasks completed
- Emails sent
New metrics:
- Revenue per hour worked
- Energy level on Sunday night
- Number of high-impact decisions made
- Time spent on activities that compound
The shift: From measuring inputs to measuring outcomes. From effort to effectiveness.
Action Steps for 20-Hour Weeks
Week 1: Track Everything
- Log every hour for one week
- Categorize as: Revenue-generating, Necessary, or Waste
- Identify your biggest time sinks
Week 2: Eliminate Waste
- Cancel recurring meetings that don't drive decisions
- Stop doing tasks that don't impact revenue
- Use the Sunday Night Test to cut draining activities
Week 3: Automate and Delegate
- Pick one AI tool to replace 5+ hours of work
- Hire one contractor for repetitive tasks
- Set up one automation workflow
Week 4: Measure and Iterate
- Track revenue per hour worked
- Note energy levels throughout the week
- Adjust based on what's working
Repeat until you're working 30 hours max on only high-impact activities.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most founders are addicted to being busy.
Busy feels virtuous. Busy feels important. Busy feels like progress.
But busy is often the enemy of effective.
The hardest part of working 20 hours isn't finding the time. It's admitting that the other 40 hours weren't actually necessary.
Your ego wants to believe you're irreplaceable. Your business needs you to become replaceable.
What I'd Tell My 60-Hour Self
Stop glorifying the grind. Working 60 hours isn't impressive if 40 of them are waste.
Delegate faster. That task you're "too busy" to teach someone else is keeping you busy forever.
Use AI tools. They're not cheating. They're competitive advantage.
Measure outcomes, not inputs. Revenue matters. Hours don't.
Take the Sunday Night Test seriously. Life's too short to dread Monday morning.
Most importantly: Working smart beats working hard. Every time.
Why This Matters
Because hustle culture is keeping founders inefficient and unhappy.
Because most startup advice optimizes for the wrong metrics.
Because AI made 20-hour work weeks possible for the first time in history.
Because you can't build a sustainable business while burning yourself out.