Like the title says.
I feel super unproductive with work. I try to squeeze in workouts, reading, and all the other stuff that needs to be done. In the end, I only manage to work about 5 or 6 hours a day (or less) and am afraid that it gets me nowhere.
So I thought I ask entrepreneurs how much work you guys get done in a day.
Thanks šš»
How many hours per day are you productive?
byu/ElephantMental6838 inEntrepreneur
Posted by ElephantMental6838
36 Comments
about 3-4
I don’t think you should compare yourself to others. Everyone works differently and at different paces.
Some days you may have more meetings, so it feels like you “haven’t” done any work. Other days may feel more swamped.
If you’re having problems with time management, try the Pomodoro Technique or simple time blocking. Also don’t forget to cut yourself some slack, we all need a break.
100% focused around 4/5 hours without breaks after that usually need to take a 10 min break each 30 min. Thatās what works for me
Im the same as you– 5-6 hours unless you’re on yourself about it like a micromanaging boss.Ā It’s because when you’re at a day job, 8 hours starts when you come in, and ends when you leave.Ā If you’re purely tracking work activity it’s going to be different.
When I need to be more productive (aka the past few weeks) I plan my week/day out, allocate hours to projects, abd track the hours I work.
If I spent a half hour on reddit, or got to my desk late, or took a long lunch, I don’t count it.Ā Kind of eye opening, because when I was an employee if just put 8 hours down every day.Ā Obviously i wasn’t working a full 8.
It still comes out to around 7 hours or so even when im mindful of it
7 hours
If youāre feeling unproductive with just 5 or 6 hours, thatās on you. Real entrepreneurs donāt clock in a set number of hours; they get results. Productivity isnāt about the time you spendāit’s about what you achieve in that time.
Stop whining and start prioritizing. Cut out distractions, focus on the high-impact tasks, and eliminate the fluff. If you want to get more done, wake up earlier, set clear goals, and hold yourself accountable.
The world doesnāt care about your excuses. Either step up or stay where you are. Itās your choice.
if I work 8 hours in a day on the typical 9-5 schedule to be honest iām really only doing 2-3 hours of work.
Iāve stopped forcing myself to work set hours and work whenever I feel productive, sometimes I get a random idea at midnight as iām about to fall asleep but then get a burst of productivity and do a days worth of work in a few hours and stay up until 1-2 am. sometimes iāll wake up and wonāt feel like working until 3pm.
I found Im actually getting way more done doing it like this, Iām also diagnosed with ADHD so maybe thatās a part of it idk
Pure coding maybe 5 hours, but i can do 11 hour days if its emails, research etc.
6-7
I feel you on this! Productivity can be a real struggle, especially with everything else we try to fit in. Personally, I usually get around 5 to 7 hours of focused work done each day, depending on how Iām feeling and what else is on my plate.
Itās super easy to feel like youāre not doing enough when youāre juggling workouts, reading, and lifeās other demands. But honestly, quality over quantity is key. Even if youāre putting in fewer hours, if youāre focused and productive during that time, youāre still making progress.
Guys, i am looking for upvotes. Need them to post. Thanks in advance. š
Somewhere 30 – 60 minutes.
Feels like 3-4 hours lol – i have a plan to work up to 10 but when i was an employee 4 hours was the max and i think most of my co-workers did less than that.
Not at all most days. When itās go time Iāll do what it takes, but when itās not I enjoy life
get frustrated and feeling unproductive is the part of entrepreneurship. 5-6 or 12 hours does not matter. Main matter is how much time you worked with your full efficiency.
Don’t think much about productivity just focus on your work.
Working 9-5, so 3-4 per day
Reading how most people have only 3 to 4 productive hours in a day is so nice to hear.
Makes you realize that your don’t need 15 hours a day to beat the average personš
About 6
Awesome question. Is there anyone who’s really productive for 8-12 hours ?
I donāt really have a number of hours Iām productive. I find myself constantly looking up marketing strategies, watching marketing videos, financial structuring and things like that every single chance I get.
My wife hates it and I didnāt used to see it as productive but recently it hit me (after a session of my wife telling me Iām addicted to working.)
I feel like Iām constantly locked in
Am I missing something or doing it wrong?
My to-do list well-exceeds my ability to complete everything in one day. Further to that, my list is continually expanding and morphing, but always aimed at what Iām trying to do.
I feel accomplished everyday no matter how many hours I āworkā because I enjoy the process and I stop as needed and refocus on my vision.
Literally! Iām up in my head seeing myself having the desired impact on my life, my family, etc. This is no different than a golfer imaging the next the shot.
My day begins with walking or running, perhaps hitting the gym, while listening to audio books or motivating music.
My daily goal is to have done the needful while having taken some sort of action big or small that moves the needle.
Thatās it.
Iām not exhausted. Iām highly successful, and that measurement transcends money. Today, I am light years from six months ago.
The key for me is always the me-time.
Itās having taken the time and effort to work on myself and exercise the ādemonsā that cause us humans to waste our lives on things that donāt matter.
I stopped judging myself so harshly. Life is too short. Live it.
depends on age and health
I struggle with this also. It’s incredibly difficult to get into a good work flow when you’re not 100% sure what you should be doing as a business owner. Much easier when you have someone telling you what to do at a 9-5. The trade-off to be able to decide for yourself how to live your life is worth the difficulty though. Try to plan your days a week in advance and keep yourself accountable that you’ll stick to it. Keep it pushing.
Honestly, itās about quality, not just quantity. I used to push for 10+ hour days but realized I was just busy, not productive. Now, I aim for 4-6 focused, deep work hours and get more done than ever. The rest of the time, I prioritize exercise, reading, and recharging. Donāt stress about hitting a magic numberājust make the hours you *do* work count!
Iām a big fan of ādeep workā done in 90min to 3hr blocks.
IMO An 8hr work day can usually be condensed down to a few hours of super intense uninterrupted work. it definitely takes some discipline to block a time off and not let anything interrupt it though.
Theres a book on it by cal Newport on it. Though I havenāt read it Iāve learned some of the principals from others. Iām sure you could watch a YouTube spark notes versions and implement without adding another book to read to your list.
Usually about 4. 6 max. And I try to save grunt work tasks for end of day so I can still be āproductiveā when my brain isnāt all there.
As an artist,I try to think of my work day in a task based manner. Then if I only have one task compared, or 10 I still feel satisfied
Almost the entire day, I am super productive.
Some days, all day. Some days, none. Iād say I average 2-3 hours a day. I donāt really do much, I have managers at each of my companies. If Iām there Iām mostly hanging out.
This is interesting to read some comments and makes me feel better about not hustling 24/7 like we are fed to believe we should be. I am productive as hell when it comes to sales. When Iām preparing for or in a client meeting, itās game over. When Iām working up proposals, I get it done. The rest of the stuff I am productive only when needed, admittedly should probably eke out 1-2 hours of dedicated āhousekeepingā type work per day. I spent way too long in the last 18-24 months treating my mind and body like SHIT. Stress level super high, trying to improve my business every single minute of every single day and it was exhausting. The absolute worst part was realizing that all of that effort still didnāt make THAT huge of a difference. I also had some pretty serious anxiety/stress derived health issues come up. Finally my wife was like YO wtf are you doing, get your ass in the gym and start eating better, and manage your stress. And I did exactly that. I work when I need to work. But I donāt sacrifice myself or my family anymore.
Most people are 2-4 hours a day; if you want to successful with your business I think you need to be doing minimum 6-8 if it’s a side hustle and 10+ hours a day if it’s a full time gig for long periods of time otherwise you won’t get the thrust you need to take off.
I do mine part time for now and I get into that 6-8 hour range most days. I get up early make posts until I need to go to my day job work the hour lunch break and get home put the kids down and work late. It’s just what I have to do. The alternative is I get left behind because of inflation and that’s something I refuse to let happen.
Sorry this comment isnāt going to have much to do with the post, but Iām new to Reddit and I donāt know what karma points are and how to get them. Iād like to post something and see if I can get some advice or help. Can someone help me understand what karma is?
I’ve found that I’ve been unproductive because I dread working on tasks that don’t excite me. I’m currently in the process of evaluating VAs that I can offload mundane tasks to. Maybe you’re experiencing the same sentiment.
I think it’s easy to say ‘from 9 – 5 I am 100% productive’, because I am not. I find myself sliding over to Reddit, or YouTube for 10 minutes and then I get back to work. Realistically I would say 3 – 4 hours, but some days are better than others and I may pull longer. It probably depends on how tired I am, what needs doing asap, etc.
Something I have found super helpful is to break my days up e.g Monday from 9am – 12pm I do social media planning, from 1pm to 5pm I do sales. Every day I do sales from 1pm to 5pm, but the morning I fill with BizDev stuff or side projects that need doing. It’s helped me to feel less overwhelmed š
Don’t grind for hours.
Life is more than this
I am reading Navals Almanack and its helping me to know what’s important for me
I think at the beginning we must take some time to figure out how we could do our jobs best, and then we have some clues to optimize ours. I created many workflows and agents for me to automate these. Actually, you could find some ideas or inspirations to make you more productive with some templates [here](https://mindpal.space?aff=yqR5D)