“You and I are not like cows. We’re not meant to graze all day. We’re meant to hunt like lions. This idea that you’re going to have linear output just by cranking every day at the same amount of time sitting… That’s machines. Machines are meant to work 9-5, not humans.” — Naval Ravikant
Before we enter the thunderdome…
…I need to preface this by giving Hormozi his well-deserved flowers.
Numbers don’t lie; the guy is a beast.
And, while I agree with him far more often than I disagree…
This ‘aint one of those times.
Here’s the story…
Earlier this week, I sat down to record my first original YouTube talk in nearly 3 years:
How I Built A 7-Figure Business Working 4.5 Hours A Day
When I finished, I got up, walked over to my desk, popped in the SD card and began uploading it.
(Literally) moments later:
A clip popped up from Hormozi that outlines his recommended daily routine for early-stage founders…
…Which is, basically:
Work 12 hours a day.
Instantly, I started second-guessing myself:
“I just filmed a 25 minute rant about how working 12 hours a day is bullsh*t…
…Was I wrong? Have I actually been a pansy this whole time?
Do we need to call Goggins?”
That continued for about 15 seconds.
Then I woke up and remembered I’m not a bot this system has been battle-tested for over 15 years, and remains undefeated for me and every single founder I’ve ever given it to.
Still, I thought I’d run it by Dr. ChatGPT to be sure.
Here’s what it said:
From ChatGPT:
(I asked it to summarize a long response into bullet points)
- Decades of research (Newport, Ericsson, Pencavel, Pang, Csikszentmihalyi) show humans can only sustain around 4–6 hours of true deep work per day before focus and creativity crash.
- Deep work burns real fuel. The prefrontal cortex—the part responsible for reasoning, creativity, and strategy—runs on limited metabolic energy. After a few hours of intense focus, it physically can’t sustain high performance.
- Your best ideas often emerge offline. When you rest or step away, the brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN) activates—integrating memories, solving problems, and forming creative insights. Constant focus blocks this process, which means without deliberate downtime, you literally prevent your mind from connecting the dots that drive breakthroughs.
- Busyness feels productive—but isn’t. You might “work” 12 hours, but you’re likely only producing about 4 good ones. Grinding feels virtuous but often masks poor strategy and scattered focus.
Of course, Chat could just be glazing me while telling Hormozi the exact same thing in reverse.
(AI be flirty like that)
But I don’t think so.
According to science — and, more importantly, to real-world experience — the data is very clear:
4-6 hours per day is the sweet spot for creative and intellectual work.
However, the only data that matters is the data you collect yourself.
And you can only collect the data by trying both approaches and seeing what works for you.
(not me, not Hormozi, not ChatGPT — you)
So please do.
And then let us know your findings.
If you’d like a damn good starting point that works damn near every time:
Watch this today.
T
P.S. Big thanks to everyone who has been supporting by liking, commenting, and sharing the video.
Like I said yesterday…
Our channel has been stuck for a while because:
- Our topics are all over the place (YouTube doesn’t know which audience to show our content to)
- None of our videos are optimized for YouTube (they’ve all been random clips from live recordings)
So this is the first video I’ve ever posted on the channel that is actually designed for YouTube.
And I’m told re-training the algorithm and gaining traction will take ~8-12 weeks.
But every like, comment, and share really speeds up the process…
And thanks to y’all, this video is gaining good momentum already.
So again — thank you 🙂
Keep the support coming, and I’ll keep the videos coming.
We’re just getting started…
“If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset (“what can the world offer me?”) and instead adopt the craftsman mindset (“what can I offer the world?”).” – Cal Newport
