Wednesday

"[A new study out of Stanford] found that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and it drops off so much after 55 hours that there's no point in working any more. That's right, people who work as much as 70 hours (or more) per week actually get the same amount done as people who work 55 hours. Those extra hours are wasted." Forbes Link.

I believe it. I get to the office shortly before 7:00 and pretty much grind/run hard all day until 4:00 (subject to about 45 minutes worth of breaks). At that point, I'm pretty much shot, so basically, I think my daily capacity for productivity is about 8.5 hours. I then spend over an hour at night working from my home office, mostly just responding to work emails, proofreading contracts, doing light research, and handling other low-intensity matters. I do that four days a week, which results in about 40 hours of work. I then work anywhere from 4-8 hours on Friday and 1-4 hours on Saturday, meaning I put in around 50 hours a week.

And that, I've honestly concluded, is about my capacity. Coincidentally, I came to that conclusion just last month. I seem to recall putting in more hours as a younger man and thought maybe I'm just getting old, but based on that quote above, I'm probably just normal.

Fifty hours is a solid week and nothing to be ashamed of. If you have to put in more than that, you might need to take a hard look at your situation. Sometimes, excess hours are required, like for younger people just entering a field: a few years of excess grind and establishing your "creds." But in the long run? I don't buy it.

Max out at 50.