#251 · people are copying my strategies and getting 10x the views
I work at least 12 hours a day, almost every day. I usually start around 5 or 6 am and keep going until 6 or 7 pm. Some days I push 16‑17 hours, sacrificing sleep and quality of life. Most of my work is in front of a screen, but I’ve recently built systems that let me focus on high‑impact activities, so I’m no longer pulling 12‑16 hour days constantly.
My recommendation is to aim for about 2-3 hours per day, which totals 14-21 hours per week. You'll likely frontload this on weekends—maybe 4-5 hours each on Saturday and Sunday. During weekdays, you could fit in 1-2 hours per day, for example from 7:00 to 8:30 am if you work from home, or adjust around your commute. Expect to invest extra activation energy beyond your regular 9-hour workday to overcome initial friction. Over time, as your side hustle scales, you can reduce your full-time hours and eventually quit your job. Many in Maker School have done this. I advise erring on the side of caution so you’re comfortable leaving your job without financial stress.
Treat the extra hours like a gym session. You won’t get 12× the results by working 12 hours straight; you’ll see diminishing returns after a point. Focus on the high‑impact, money‑making activities—outreach, lead‑generation, and sales—that deliver roughly 80 % of your results. Fill your calendar with those tasks, execute them efficiently, and you’ll accomplish the vast majority of what you need to move the business forward.
What a great question. Regarding your Pacific Standard Time question, if you work 6 – 9 PM Eastern, that’s 3 – 6 PM Pacific, so you can book meetings then; it’s not a problem. Now, for your main question about working full‑time with only 3-4 hours a day: Yes, it’s feasible. In fact, everything needed to start this business can be done in 2-3 hours a day, so your 3-4 hour window is more than enough. Having limited time is actually an advantage because it forces you to focus on revenue‑generating activities and constantly ask whether each task moves the needle. To compete with people who have 8-12 hours, you must make each hour two to three times more effective by always checking if your work is generating revenue. Think of it like being dropped into a mid‑to‑high difficulty area in a game right away—you level up much faster than if you stayed in the beginner zone. Most of the core activities I discuss take only an hour or two a day, leaving you extra time to build the rest of your business.
Yeah, I do think you could absolutely spend three to four hours per day. But if you're only doing it on weekdays, you must understand that you're only spending 15 to 20 hours per week on this thing, which is presumably one of the most important things to you. I understand a lot of people here are limited in time. In a way, being limited in time could be positive because it forces you to be very efficient and effective with your time. But you will have to put in some time regardless if you want to achieve your goals. If you're unwilling to put more than just three to four hours per weekday—which is really what you're doing—keep in mind weekdays are only five-sevenths of the week. The probability of growth and the rate at which you grow will of course be slower. So I guess it's just about how quickly you want to hit your goals. If you want to hit your goals fast, you want to escape the permanent underclass. Is three to four hours a day going to do it for you? I don't know. Anyway, hopefully that makes sense.