Understanding The Impact Of Work Hours On Productivity

“60 hours per week is the sweet spot of productivity.” No it’s not. It’s the sweet spot of burnout. Last week, Google founder Sergei Brin sent a company memo recommending that people be “in the office at least every weekday” and pushed everyone to work 60-hour weeks. I’ve been listening to this hustle-core mantra about working 60 hours per week my entire career in tech and even adopted it for years. The problem: it’s total BS. A large-scale study from Stanford found a huge productivity cliff after working 49 hours per week, and that working more than 55 hours per week was literally pointless. You’re so burnt out that you don’t get anything more done. A study by Slack found that employees who logged off at the end of the workday received 20% higher productivity scores than those who after hours. Nearly every single study shows that pushing your employees to work more than 40 hours per week leads to burnout and decreased productivity, yet it’s the go-to-move of tech execs like Brin whenever they feel threatened. (In his memo, Brin sounded downright terrified Google was going to lose the AI race). Let’s stop buying into this false hustlecore narrative. Work a reasonable amount of hours. See your family. Don’t go into the office on Saturday. You’ll be happier, more productive, and more creative.

I used to think success came from working more than everybody else… Then I saw this study and my habits changed forever. Research has shown that the average knowledge worker (consultant, architect, accountant, etc.) maxes out at about 5 hours of real effective work a day. Can you still get more done? Yes, for sure, but you need breaks and resets. But what about these star lawyers who work 80 hours a week? It turns out that after 60 hours the additional time is mostly spent correcting the mistakes you are making from being so tired. This is called work theater, where people put in more hours just because the culture expects them to look busy, even though it's not healthy or useful. So, what should we do about it if we actually want to be productive? - Know your most productive times, for most its first thing in the morning. - Block off these hours for deep work and decision making - Take less important meetings during your lower productivity time. - Take breaks and encourages others as well, they you more productive.   You can push yourself for a deadline for about two weeks, and then things go bad quickly. We all want to be successful but realize 20 years from now the only people who will ever remember that you worked late is your spouse or kids. So, ask yourself, is the work theater really worth it, or maybe you can be more effective without burning yourself out. For more insights and opportunities to connect, join the thousands of readers of my monthly Newsletter https://lnkd.in/dnKE4zFj

Myth: Top performers work 100-hour weeks. Truth: The best performers I know block 2 hours daily for deep work and leave by 6. You have been sold a lie. That hustle culture is the only way to win. That burning out is proof of how “badly you want it.” But the highest performers I’ve worked with? ❌ They’re not running harder. ✅ They’re thinking deeper. They know their edge comes from focus, not fatigue. Here’s how they do it and how you can too. 1️⃣ They block time for deep work. → 2 hours minimum, every single day. → No distractions. No meetings. → This is where the real value gets created. 2️⃣ They leave by 6 PM. → Rest is part of the job. → They know that clear thinking starts with a clear mind. → Productivity drops after 8-9 hours, and they don’t waste time chasing diminishing returns. 3️⃣ They say No a lot. → Not every meeting is worth their time. → Not every idea needs their attention. → Focus is more important than being busy. 4️⃣ They work in sprints, not marathons. → 90-minute bursts. → Followed by real breaks. → Energy management beats time management. 5️⃣ They don’t check email first thing. → Mornings are for creation, not reaction. → They check messages after deep work, not before. → They protect their attention like it’s gold. 6️⃣ They track impact, not hours. → Results are what matter, not the clock. → They ask: What moved the needle today? → Output, not effort, is their metric. 7️⃣ They have boundaries and actually enforce them. → No work after hours. → No guilt about it. → They’ve seen that the best ideas come when they’re not grinding. ❌ You don’t need to work more. ✅ You need a system that helps you focus without burning out. That’s why I built Introvert OS. A simple framework for deep work, clear priorities, and sustainable success. It’s how introverts win without the distraction. ♻️ Share this with someone who’s stuck in hustle mode and needs to hear this. ❤️ Follow me for more introvert-friendly success tips.

Founders who work 'less' can actually start achieving more... Here’s the proof: This master of focus achieves extraordinary success by working less hours. Meet Cal Newport: PhD from MIT, refuses to work past 5pm, NYT Bestseller with 2M+ copies sold. Here's what founders can learn from his approach to deep work. Picture this. You're grinding through your 14th hour of the day. Bouncing between Slack, investor emails, that product roadmap sitting half-finished on your desk. You feel busy. You feel important. But do you feel effective? Newport would say you're doing it wrong. He argues that 4 hours of deep work... Produces substantially more value than 12 hours of distracted effort. Think about that for a moment. Half a workday of focused attention... Outperforming an entire day of scattered energy. Every time we switch contexts, we leave part of our cognitive capacity behind. Stuck in the previous problem like gum on a shoe. This isn't just productivity theory. It's about understanding how breakthrough thinking actually happens. The ideas that change companies don't emerge from inbox zero. They surface in the quiet spaces between the noise. When your mind has room to make connections that weren't obvious before. We see this pattern with founders constantly. The most successful ones aren't the busiest ones. They're the ones who've learned to protect their thinking time. Almost like it's their most valuable asset. Maybe because it is. Newport calls this "deep work" - Sustained periods of cognitively demanding activity without distraction. But here's what makes it profound. It's not just about blocking time on a calendar. It's about creating psychological safety for your own mind. Permission to think deeply about problems that matter. Instead of reacting to whatever screams loudest. What happens when a founder stops being available 24/7? Initially, panic. But then something interesting occurs. The team starts solving problems independently. The company begins operating like the organism it was meant to be. Newport's 5pm boundary isn't about work-life balance platitudes. It's recognition that the unconscious mind needs space to process and prepare. Quality of attention determines quality of results. What would happen if you optimized for depth instead of duration? - Proud to coach with Inside-Out Leadership: executive coaching by trained coaches who have founded, funded, scaled, & sold their own companies.

The 60-hour work week is BS and the the science says don't do it This is always a big debate between my founder friends and me: What's the right number of hours to work, especially so in the AI age? Sergey Brin is telling his Gemini staff to put in 60 hours as that is the "sweet spot," - To build an AI that can replace them ;) I've researched this, and also from personal experience, I think this thought challenges the old ways. It's time to rethink how we measure work.  Research shows:  • Performance drops after 50 hours a week.   • Productivity declines sharply after 55 hours.   • Microsoft Japan saw a 40% boost with a 4-day workweek.  Cognitive decline is real. Here’s how it breaks down:  • 1-4 hours: Peak focus for deep work.  (Do this 1st thing in the morning with no distractions ) • 5-6 hours: Start to lose focus.   • 7-9 hours: Creativity and decision-making suffer.  (Save these hours for boring work in the afternoons) • 10+ hours: Equivalent to being legally drunk.  (Go outside instead and live a little) Focus on output, not hours. AI can handle a lot of routine tasks. Set up systems & processes where AI agents get rid of your boring work. If you can achieve in 30 hours what took 50, why chase arbitrary hour goals?  I think for knowledge workers today, 30-45 focused hours with breaks can lead to better results than 60+ hours of low-quality work.  

When companies promote a “55-hour minimum” workweek during tax season, it’s important to recognize the toll this can take. This schedule is 15 hours—or 37.5%—more than a standard 40-hour week, meaning a significant increase in time spent away from personal life. Research consistently shows that longer work hours don’t equate to higher productivity. In fact, excessive hours can lead to decreased efficiency, as overworked employees often experience fatigue, burnout, and diminished focus. These factors can not only reduce productivity but also increase error rates. As concentration drops, the likelihood of mistakes rises, which can be particularly costly in detailed fields like tax. Thus, while longer hours may seem like a way to “get more done,” the reality is that they often compromise both the quality and accuracy of work. A healthier approach—allowing for regular breaks and manageable workweeks—has been shown to support better performance and fewer errors, ultimately benefiting both the employee and the company. The 55 hour work week should hardly be a company benefit. How can we work towards a 40 hour work week or even half day Fridays during tax season? We can leverage technology and charge fair fees. Any other ideas ?

It's hard not to subscribe to hustle culture. The idea that success is always achievable if you just work harder is almost comforting. But the more data we look at, the more we learn that it's not always fueling productivity — in fact, in many ways it’s cutting against us. My team at Slack recently released new research showing that working more hours is most often associated with less productivity. When I talk with my friends and colleagues about what we learned, I get some raised eyebrows. "Ok so you’re telling me that taking breaks is a productivity booster — what ever happened to hard work?" "You’re saying the research shows I should spend four hours a day focusing, and no more than two hours a day in meetings. Yeah right. There’s no way I can make that happen." The industrial revolution established the idea that people should operate like machines. And more than 200 years later, hustle culture is now so deeply ingrained that many workers equate being “always on” with being a model employee. But that’s not how humans operate. Just ask an athlete — rest and recovery is a critical component of performance. Just ask an innovator — carving out focus time to read, write, and ponder is a prerequisite to original thought. So we have an opportunity to shift our thinking, and redefine what it means to be a model employee. - It's not "work harder" it's "work smarter" - It's not "cancel all meetings" it's "replace inefficient meetings with asynchronous collaboration on Slack" - It's not "nobody wants to work hard" it's "focus time, collaboration time, connection, and rest are the macronutrients of the work day — the right balance allows you to perform at your best.” Don’t believe me? See the data for yourself. Then tell me what you think.

Stop glorifying long hours. Real success is measured in impact, not time spent. I used to believe that staying late and working weekends meant more success. But even after those rough weeks, something was missing. I thought more time = more progress. Instead, I burned out. Exhausted. And we are going nowhere. The data speaks for itself: DeskTime’s research shows that employees who work 6 hours a day have almost the same productivity levels as those working 8+ hours—84% vs. 86%. Is missing your kid’s soccer game, answering emails at the dinner table, or working on weekends worth that extra 2%? Hard no. High performers focus on impact over time because: ✅ Quality beats quantity. ✅ The research proves it. ✅ Focused effort drives results. ✅ Burnout reduces productivity. ✅ Creativity thrives in open space. ✅ Impactful work is more meaningful. ✅ Personal time fuels professional success. Here are 3 ways to prioritize impact: 1️⃣ Set clear goals: ↳ Define success. Think impact beyond yourself. 2️⃣ Focus: ↳ Prioritize activities that directly drive results. 3️⃣ Reflect weekly: ↳ Ask yourself: “What did I achieve that truly mattered? How can I eliminate what didn't?” It’s time to rethink how we measure success. Do you agree? ♻️ Share this if you believe in working smarter, not harder. ➕ Follow Amy for more insights on achieving results that matter.

Show me your startup's office at 6:30 PM, and I'll show you your future .... exhausted teams, declining productivity, and mounting burnout. Constant overtime isn't hustle, it's harmful. Sustained overtime is a clear sign of naïve management: It's a productivity-reduction technique disguised as dedication. Like sprinting, overtime makes sense only briefly at the end, not as your daily standard. No team can sustain productivity beyond about 40 hours a week without serious damage. Smart leaders prioritize sustainable success, clear vision, and respecting human limits. Late nights at the office don't signal commitment; they indicate poor planning. Choose a smarter path.

Working longer hours does not equate to higher productivity. The world's most economically competitive nations actually work fewer hours: 🇩🇰 Denmark: 32.2 hours 🇳🇱 Netherlands: 33.2 hours 🇩🇪 Germany: 34.3 hours In contrast, 🇬🇷 Greece recently introduced a law allowing 48-hour or 6-day workweeks in certain sectors. Despite working the longest hours in Europe (41.4 hours), Greece has the lowest productivity. 😬 The same pattern applies to organizations: The longer you work ↳ the more your productive rate of return diminishes. Long hours lead to ↳ burnout, high turnover and disengagement. Critics of the shorter work week often miss that where it has been implemented successfully, it has: → Improved work quality → Improved life quality ↓ ↓ ↓ The foundation of successful economies isn't 'hard work' measured by long hours it’s Smart work - achieving more with less.