3-Day Workweeks Are Possible When You Work Smarter, Not Harder

My daily routine in 2024 as a full-time writer

People might think I have “my sh*t together” or that I’m super productive.

Spoiler alert: I’m not.

Casing point — this comment in my 30-Day Writing Challenge community made me smile:

Screenshot from the 30-Day Writing Challenge Discord community

“I have no idea how you do all the things you do 😅”

I wasn’t lying or being faux-humble when I said I piss away time on YouTube. I also hike with friends and work out with my personal trainer.

This is despite the fact I’m now a full-time writer.

Well, I say full-time. I do most of my work Mondays — Wednesdays and the rest of my time is spent on personal projects, seeing friends, and other leisure activities.

Before I share my strategies on how you can work smarter, not harder, let me give you a glimpse into my daily routine.

Quick note: This won’t happen overnight. You can make a living online too, but I want you to set realistic expectations. I’ve been creating content for five years. Give yourself at least 12 months.

“We chilled on Sunday” (kind of)…

I mentally prepare for the week ahead on Sunday mornings. This is an idea I took from David Allen‘s Getting Things Done.

The following tasks take me around 40 minutes:

I go through my inbox and put emails into folders
I tip out my “in-tray” (a plastic tub) and sort through items. There’s often a collection of dates, article ideas, and books to add to my reading list:

#1: My “in tray” | #2: My reading list on Notion | #3: My Notion dashboard

I plan the week ahead on an A4 sheet of paper. This tells me things I want to do each day and three goals I have for the week.

Finally, I write down my Monday tasks in a notepad. I do this every day. What can I say? I’m old school.

Alright, onto my daily routine.

I’m constantly tweaking it, and it’s changed a lot since I wrote What Does a Digital Nomad (Who Writes) Do All Day?

I won’t go into lots of detail. The strategies for working smarter, not harder, will be more valuable to you.

Here are the broad strokes.

My (typical) daily routine as a full-time writer

06:35 | Wake up

I experimented with no alarm.

However, waking up randomly threw my routines out the window, particularly my eating.

So now, I stick with my trusty alarm clock — apart from on Sundays. This is the one day a week I give myself permission to be lazy.

06:35–08:00 | Morning routine

I wake up, get showered, get dressed, do my skincare, meditate for 20 minutes, and eat breakfast (plus a protein shake).

Nothing fancy.

08:00–10:00 | Deep work session #1

Lex Fridman’s daily routine inspired me with this.

My first deep work session of the day is for client stuff or my personal projects (i.e., my most important work).

For clients, this might be writing articles, conducting SEO research, auditing websites, responding to backlink requests, or whatever else needs to be done.

For me, this might involve writing on Medium, recording videos, helping students, replying to emails—you get the idea.

10:00–10:15 | Quick break

I’ll go to the loo, stretch my legs, and eat a cereal bar to keep me going.

10:15–12:00 | Deep work session #2

I finish off whatever I didn’t get finished in session #1.

12:00–12:50 | Lunch

I’m trying to bulk up, so eating has almost become a part-time job.

12:50–14:50 | Travel & gym

I head to the gym and work out with my PT once a week. When I’m not working out with him, I follow a program he’s laid out for me.

And — you guessed it — this is followed by another protein shake.

14:50–16:00 | Shallow work

Working out clears my mind, so this final work session of the day is good for editing articles.

I also use it as an opportunity to browse my “Idea Pipes”.

(More on this shortly.)

16:00–19:00 | Downtime & dinner

Food, YouTube/Netflix, and watching The Chase.

(If you’re British, you know Bradley Walsh is a legend.)

19:00–21:00 | Leisure

This is usually either:

Playing board games with my parents
FaceTiming friends after work
Going to a cycle class
A long walk
Reading

21:00–22:30 | Wind down before bed

I brush my teeth, get dressed, read, journal, and go to sleep.

My phone is left in another room.

Again — it's nothing fancy.

Alright, onto some strategies for working harder, not smarter

#1: Parallel Processing

In computing, complex tasks are broken into smaller tasks, and computers execute these tasks on multiple CPUs. They’re also executed at the same time. These results are then recombined, reducing the overall processing time.

I apply this parallel processing technique to my writing.

Here’s how.

Do you remember the “in-tray” I go through on Sunday mornings? This tray contains ideas for articles (possible headlines, random bullet points, interesting resources, etc.)

These ideas all go into Notion. So, too, do the notes on my phone.

I currently have over 70 content ideas on my dashboard:

Some of these ideas may sit here for months — sometimes years.

For example, this article idea about Steph Smith, one of my favourite content creators, has been sitting here since January 2023.

And not all ideas are as well-developed as this one:

Using this technique is helpful for a few reasons:

You never have to stare at a blank page. This is a writer’s worst nightmare.
The structure of your articles takes care of itself. You'll find your articles flow when you write down everything you can think of. They’re easier to write.
You’ll be “writing” multiple articles at once. Whenever I find something that builds on one of my ideas, I add to the idea.

All of these pros will help you write more content more consistently.

#2: One big thing per day

Two hours of focused work > 8 hours of interrupted work

This is why I tackle one big item a day — and only one. It might be a client’s article. It might be planning content. It might be recording videos for a new course.

I batch my tasks and avoid task-switching.

If I complete a task and feel like doing more, great! I like the feeling of getting ahead. But I don’t put pressure on it.

#3: Parking Lot

I stole this idea from Ali Abdaal.

Basically, I have a Google Doc called Parking Lot, where I note future projects I may want to work on.

Top of my list is doing a digital detox once I move into my new flat:

Screenshot from my “Parking Lot” Google Doc

This Parking Lot is helpful because it means I don’t rush into projects.

Ideas have time to breathe.

#4: Idea Pipes

Remember me talking about Steph Smith?

She inspired me with this one.

In this episode of My First Million, she talked about a new project called Internet Pipes. It’s where she helps people “sift through the treasure trove of online data”.

I now do something similar.

I have an “Idea Pipes Mk 2” folder in my bookmarks. In it, there are links to websites that give me ideas, including Wired, Hacker News, and Quiet Life Brokerage:

Whenever I need some inspiration, I hop to this folder.

Side note: Steph’s Internet Pipes has one of the most genius pricing structures I’ve ever seen! The price goes up as she makes sales:

Screenshot from the Internet Pipes landing page

“So with that, I’m “letting the market decide” the value of this project. For every 20 sales, the price will go up by $20. Let’s see how much this is worth to people!”

#5: Set boundaries

I usually finish my day’s work by 4:30 pm.

However, if I’m not feeling it and want to wrap up early, I do that. There’s no point forcing yourself to put in the hours if you don’t have to.

Remember: Two hours of focused work > 8 hours of interrupted work

Takeaways

I want to inspire you with my 3-day work weeks. However, don't let this put you off if they feel unrealistic to you right now.

I believe the strategies I lay out for working smarter, not harder, can be useful to anyone who wants to achieve more in less time.

Here’s a quick summary of the strategies:

#1: Parallel processing — Develop a system so that you can write multiple articles at the same time.
#2: One big thing per day — If you do more, great! But ask yourself this: “What’s the one thing I can do today that makes everything else easier or unnecessary?” — Gary Keller
#3: Parking Lot — Save future project ideas somewhere so that you don’t rush into them.
#4: Idea Pipes —Create a folder of websites that inspire you with fresh ideas.
#5: Set boundaries — Two hours of focused work > 8 hours of interrupted work

Want to ditch the 9–5? Get my free 19-page guide: Everything I Did to Quit My 9–5 Job & Transition Into Profitable, Sustainable Solopreneuring :)