How Much Do The World’s Most Successful People Work?

Many of us believe that more hours worked means more success (and more money).

While it’s easy to believe this, it’s not necessarily true.

Don’t believe us? All you have to do is look to the daily routines of the world’s most creative, and successful, people. Let’s examine a few:

Hemingway

He’d get up early in the morning and write until lunch. After lunch, he’d enjoy his day. Writing was, for the most part, a morning affair.

Darwin

He intertwined short, intense bursts of deep work in between long walks, meals with his wife, and reading.

Beethoven

He woke up early, worked until noon (or a bit later), and spent the rest of his days enjoying life.

This trend continues in most lists of creative and successful people. Most of them didn’t work for more than 5, 6, or 7 hours in a day.

Those 12-hour work days you hear about on Twitter? They’re not used by many of the world’s most productive people.

What this means

We’re not telling you to be lazy. That work won’t get moving without your help.

But, we’re saying that most people aren’t wired to work a 9-to-5.

You will need to work, but the goal is to build leverage, which is done through:

• hiring
• technology (software, tools, machines)
• putting capital/savings to work

This is ultimately how you will get more out of each hour, or how to increase productivity.

As Warren Buffett puts it: “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep you will work until you die.”

And as Sahil Bloom puts it, you should work like a lion: “Sprint when inspired, rest, repeat.”

As a final note, this work style is especially possible in marketing. That’s because marketing is intense knowledge work. Instead of running a marathon from 9 to 5, try sprinting and resting. We think you’ll like it.