I’ve talked a bit recently about the fact that entrepreneurship is hard.
I’ve done that because if the continuum of “How hard is it to make money online?” were a scale, there’d be a little bit of weight on the “It’s hard” end and a whole bunch of weight on the “It’s a muffukin’ smooth-ride cash machine, bitch!” end thanks to all the get-rich-quick schemes out there.
So I say, “Hey, it’s hard. It’s a job. It’s… work.” Because it’s not simple; it’s not turn-the-crank; you do have to fight and strive to make it happen.
To put it another way: If entrepreneurship were a school, you’d need to be a good student, and you’d need to do your homework.
But here’s the rub: There are some teachers’ pets out there. These are the folks who make it seem like you have to work 100 hours a week and read business periodicals on your iPhone in the checkout line at the supermarket if you’re going to make your business work.
On the other end of the spectrum from the “this is way easy!” crowd is a cult of productivity that says that not only is it NOT easy, but that it’s SUPER hard and if you’re not SUPER busy and SUPER engaged all the SUPER time, you’re just one lazy motherfucker who will never make it.
Bullshit.
I don’t want any more hints on how to work harder. Driven people know how to work hard, and most of the people who read stuff like this are driven and therefore know to death how to work hard. What we don’t always know is how to chill the fuck out.
Being productive is important, but so is being defiantly unproductive. GTD (“getting things done”) is a valuable habit, but not if it negates your ability to NDS (“Not do shit.”)
If you have your own business, you probably did it so that you could be free of someone telling you what to do all the time. That’s great, unless you’ve simply traded up for telling YOURSELF what to do all the time. Unless you traded a whip-cracking boss for a whip-cracking self who never lets you take a break.
So I’ll just say this:
I want to be lazy sometimes. I think it’s necessary. I’ve fought hard to build a business that would support my life. But now, if I turn around and spend the whole of that life busting my ass in front of a computer instead of sometimes reading a book, hanging out with my kids, sleeping late, or playing video games, then what the hell was the point?
Try this
Take a day off.
That’s it. Just take a day off, but do it on a weekday and do it whole-hog. That means don’t check your email, don’t return phone calls, don’t even turn on your computer or your smartphone.
Whenever I do something like this, it feels sacrilegious. It feels like the world will end, that my business will collapse, that all of my clients will leave me and will take their business elsewhere.
But then I remember that every once in a while, I get sick at the most inconvenient and crazy-busy times. And when that happens, I can’t get out of bed much, so I just watch TV and sleep. I don’t give any thought to work because I can’t get my head around it while sneezing, coughing, and barfing.
Yet the next morning, the world hasn’t fallen apart. The world, in fact, hasn’t even noticed my absence.
Emails were able to wait for 24 hours.
Jobs could easily accommodate a 1-day delay.
Even red-hot projects with red-hot deadlines worked themselves out, and I caught up easily — no harm, no foul.
The world will go on just fine without you. You’re simply not as important as you think you are.
Why I like Chris Pearson
Chris is the creator of the Thesis theme for WordPress (oh, that’s apparently going up in price soon too; might want to grab it while you’re in the shopping mood). I like Chris because not too long ago, he reminded me that I’m not the only lazy ass in this world.
Check out this post. It’s all about how hard entrepreneurs work. Go ahead and at least skim it, and then come back. Okay, go.
Uptight yet? If you read it, I’m betting you’re uptight.
You read that, and you feel totally inadequate. How many days per week do successful online businesspeople work? Usually seven. How many hours per week do they work? Around 70-80 on average. How often do they take vacations? Sometimes never, and if they take them, the computer comes along for the ride.
You read that and you think, MOTHERFUCKER, I’m apparently not working very hard after all. I need to do more or I’m going to end up living in a box and being laughed at by the world.
You may also think, MOTHERFUCKER, I’m going to keep working at the Dairy Queen and not start my own business after all. At least at the DQ, I get to have a life.
But then you notice Chris’s answers in that post. Chris works every day sometimes, but only a few days other times. He works some hectic weeks (80+ hours), but has some where he works 20. Average is around 30 or 40. He spends 20 minutes per day on email, tops. Oh, and he takes vacations.
I’m almost positive that the post’s author asked everyone to answer questions privately and submit them, so I’m going to guess that Chris didn’t realize up front how downright lazy he was going to look amongst all of those vigorous go-getters.
Well, that’s just perception, and perception matters a whole lot less than reality.
It doesn’t make sense to look at someone different, running a different business in a different way, and decide that your unique business, run your unique way, has to change somehow. It only makes sense to look at your situation and ask whether you’re happy with your results, and whether you should be doing something you’re not, like putting in more hours.
Lazy or not, Chris is doing juuuuuust fine. If you’re doing fine or progressing at a pace you’re comfortable with, don’t let what others are doing make you feel like you have to do more, or that you (who felt like a hard worker not too long ago) are actually being a do-nothing who will get nowhere.
I work hard. I’m tired of the suggestion that I should be working harder. I built a business so that I could live the life I wanted, but if all that business does is to make me work 24/7 so that I’m unable to live the life I wanted, then I kind of missed the boat.
I’m going to fight for our right to be unproductive. I want to revitalize the nobility of laziness. I’m coming out of the productivity closet, loudly and proudly.
I totally slack off sometimes, and I say it’s a strength.
Brilliant post Johnny. I think there is far to much “Work Harder & Harder” advice kicking around the at the minute. Nice to see your alternative viewpoint and totally agree that it is pointless to bust your balls for a life that you can never enjoy!!
Great work and you swear loads which makes you alright in my book!!
Yeah. Maybe success isn’t down to the number of hours you work (or not). Pearson isn’t successful because he works fewer hours, any more than the rest of us would be more successful working more or less. Punching a clock (or not) isn’t the way to change your results
yeah, working your ass off every single day doesn’t seem to be the best way .
After some breaks, I feel refreshed and ready to rock, as long as the break didn’t last too long.
Like Chris Pearson, I work very intensive hours, like a Berserk unleashed, and some other times, I ride the chill lane. It’s all about inner management.
There are no rules !
I knew you were going to respond, Garrett. MUHAHAHAHA
Thanks for this post, Johnny, and for linking to the post on how many hours others are working. I’d love to be self-employed, but if it means 80-100 hour weeks, I’d rather get a job with the social security administration. Flex hours, good bennies, and no pressure outside of the 40 hours on the job.
So I’m glad to see there are “lazy” self-employees like Chris Pearson. I’m also curious…what would your answers to those questions be? How many hours are you putting in? Did you take a vacation last year?
This is great and I couldn’t agree more. People tell me all the time I could have more, I should get a team so I can give them more work to do, and that I’ll only make so much with how much I’m willing to do.
I’m quite happy with the biz I’ve built. I have no desire to create this monster machine that I have to feed day in and day out – thereby being too busy to play with my daughter, take weekends off, take time off to work out every day and see movies on random afternoons with my other “lifestyle entrepreneur” friends who need a break.
I am a very hard worker but I want lots of free time too – that’s the whole reason I did this in the first place – seems bizarre to forget that point.
Melani
I WANT THIS TO APPLY TO SCHOOL TOO! >:D
I slack of a lot of times, and every chance I get, I take a vacation too. But yeah, it all boils down to quality of your work accomplishment. Good ol’ saying
If resting is good enough for God. It’s good enough for me. I try to make one day a week “lazy day” and you can ask my wife. I do lazy pretty darn well.
I found that post on how many hours “online entrepreneurs” work fucking absurd. Especially the “personal branding” guy who claimed he works 110 hours per week.
That’s 15 hours ever day, 7 days per week. Riiiigght.
I don’t know why it stuck in my head, but I once watched Jim Cramer (the Mad Money asshat) recommend that people “sleep less” if they want to get ahead in the business world.
On the Long Island Rail Road, on a weekday evening, you ride with zombies. They wear trench coats, nice suits and drink Heinekens in paper bags. They don’t smile. They don’t talk to each other.
I can’t imagine the amount of money I’d have to be paid to suffer that lifestyle.
My little ones are starting part time day care next week as my freelancing has grown to the point where I can’t just do it during naptimes and a few nights after they go to bed.
However that first day they go? I’m not going to write a dang thing or do anything business related, I am going to go to the all those dusty old stores that sell the breakable knick knacks and whatnot and just browse, browse, browse for five hours.
Not because the time off will make me more productive or better at anything – that’s one of the things I always hated in the mom biz, you always have to justify everything you do by pointing out how it will be better for your kids. Nope, this is just because I feel like it and if anyone or anything else benefits, then that’s just gravy.
Ok Johnny…….I Love You….there I said it out loud.
Thanks for owning “lazy”.
Yesterday afternoon, I was goofing off, getting a manicure and pedicure and generally not doing any work at all. I just was not feeling it and decided not to force it.
For a moment I felt bad about goofing off……I was supposed to be working.
It was 1 in the afternoon for Christ sakes. Then I thought ….who says I have to be working. I work for myself and can do what I want….that is half the reason I work for myself.
You know what…the world did not end, and I actually got inspired to do something later in the evening and easily cranked out the stuff that needed to be done.
Rock on!
Leah
Yes! Now I have an excuse to be lazy. Cos Johnny B. Truant says so.
Thanks man
Good to see more people advocating idleness these days. Why did it become so unwanted in the first place? It’s an old discussion. Josef Pieper wrote about this decades ago – and saw us accepting idleness, slacking, laziness only to recuperate from work. So it would be nothing but a pause, no matter if it was a pause of 5 minutes, a day, or 3 months.
But maybe we can also be idle in a different way – consciously avoiding the notion of the “functional man”. Because there’s more to life than that. To me, this is part of being human, and I treasure it a lot.
Ha! This post cracks me up. The reason I started working for myself is cuz I’m effing lazy. Like, even working as a freelancer was too much work. With 3 clients. Honestly, while I love what I do I started to hate it if I do it too much of the time. Which is why when I teach my course I want to do it once, record it and then it’s over. I don’t want to teach it once a week to a new group of kids. I’m lazy lazy lazy. Slash I want to be working towards the next big thing than constantly trying to find new clients who I’ll then have to work for 60 hours a week. BORING.
Wow, this comment is totally inarticulate. Sorry. Work brings me down.
I also feel like I should point out I’m sitting in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London at the moment drinking tea and am about to shut my computer so I can actually enjoy the surprisingly sunny day. My job is the bestest.
I think Chris has had his fair share of late nights. He seems obsessed with making his product the best and I love the way he runs his business (arguably the best product support forum anywhere) is anything, I simply think he found a good pace and he sticks to it, why fuck that up. Dude obviously isn’t afraid of hard work, he just has his shit more together than most people.
What got me was ” Just take a day off, but do it on a weekday and do it whole-hog.”
on a weekday? and I can’t check email even or twitter? I have to leave my computer off?
this sounds very scary and bizarre to me.
obviously, this means I must do this.
damnit.
and, wtf is up w/ me that I am *complaining* about taking a day off? dude.
Man, you are so, so right. If you don’t create space for yourself, you’re going to burn out very quickly, and be more miserable than when you schlepped 40 hours a week for The Man.
I have a friend who’s a very successful Internet marketer, but he’s told me several times that he could easily be making 5x what he makes now, but would rather going skiing every day during the winter, spend time on his hobbies and passions, and just enjoy life.
When he does decide to take something on, he works a lot of hours up front, but then makes sure he can scale the time way back once things are up and running. It keeps him sane and happy. Workaholics be damned!
I totally love you Johnny for standing up for lazy. I left the lawyering world because I was sick of 50-60 hr work weeks and never seeing my kids. Part of what I’m trying to do with my new life is spend it doing things I love to do and making money from them. And to me that’s not “work” – that’s fun. But still, I am not going without vacations and days off and me time and time with the kids just to make more money or make me “feel” more successful. Thanks for making that cool.
Right on, Johnny! I’m working hella-hard right now, because I’m building and growing new stuff. Most of what I’m spending my time working on is stuff I WANT to be doing. But this big push is not going to be forever, and believe me, I’m going to really enjoy spending more time NDS.
Like Jessica said above, my ultimate goal is to spend as much of my time as possible doing things I love to do, AND make money from as many of them as possible.
Yay! Question those entrepreneurship rules!
Strangely, I’m in more meetings now than I ever was when I worked for somebody else, but the good news is, I LIKE the people I’m meeting with and I can say, “I’m sorry, I’m not available that day” when my other plans involve TAKING CARE OF MYSELF or spending time with people who are important to me. Here’s to writing our own rules!
Maria Bamford put my opinion best, “I think fulfilling my potential would really cut into my sitting around time.”
I need decompress time – I can be a lazy ass, so the hell what, I get my work done and I’m happy – that’s what matters to me.
Work, work, work, I hate that 4 letter word above all the others. Just the mention of work makes me want to preface it with an f-bomb. I’ve been trying to find my outlet for a long time. I’ve had two failed website/blogs, but I count myself among the lucky because I finally narrowed down what I want to do. What I enjoy doing. Now it doesn’t seem like (f’n)work all the time.
I’m constantly in search of new places and new viewpoints…and I’m glad I came here
You may or may not enjoy this, but please come have a sample. All criticism is welcome!
http://www.slantlab.com/?p=207
Excellent post, I use this trick myself, but i must admit that from my experience this thing works ONLY alongside with effective timing. You should know when exactly to take that LAZY day and then everything is gonna be fine.
I love this post, because I really relate. My problem is that I tend to swing back and forth between extreme laziness and workaholism. I’ve been learning to be OK with my natural rhythms and just go with them. I’m still working on finding balance, though.
I would like to redefine what we’re actually talking about here, because “laziness” has this inherent negative connotation don’t you think? I’d love for us to start to see honouring our natural inclination to rest, play, completing tasks in our own time, spending time with family and friends, and whatever else takes our fancy at the time as a healthy part of life.
For too long we have been dictated to by a system that benefits from everyone working their arses off. No more I say!
You can call it lazy if you want, but I choose to call it smart use of your time. You’re right Johnny – the world isn’t going to stop if you don’t answer that email immediately. Everything will keep on churning and moving along whether you are sitting in the office or hugging your computer screen or not.
I may not get things completed in the time frames I initially set out for myself (my course continues way past when I thought I would get it done!) but you know what, I can honestly say I am enjoying every moment of my life. I’d much rather say that, then make it to some imaginary finish line sooner
Learning to be able to do nothing is the key to working for yourself. Johny, you are totally right when you said that a lot of people end up trading a boss for a whip-cracking self.
There is no need on earth to be that obsessed with a business. Working 20 hours a day will not make a business any better. Most likely, you will just end up over-tweaking everything.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Whenever we hear advice, it’s people saying ‘This is what worked for me’. What if they’re just rubbish at being effective, or caught up by a myth of working hours.
And that post, that POST, was scary. Scary.
I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed acres of space in my day to do my best work.
Seems to be working so far…
Also I’ve been trying to do is to look at the impact of what I’ve done today, rather than the amount of hours it took.
(I did just come back from five days in Bali though, so, yeah…)
I’ll admit it. I get the shakes when I’m not at my computer. I get all itchy wondering if there something I haven’t taken care of or if one more email not sent might crash in the world around my ears. But I try . . .
I look at it as an exercise in zen. Can you be okay with not touching your computer for today? Can you live happily without your Blackberry in your hand (um . . . full disclosure: I picked up my Blackberry twice since I started writing this comment (update: damn, three times now))?
It might hurt a little at first, but having the self discipline to say no is as important as having the self discipline keep working.
Too much work does make Johnny a dull boy. I feel it too. Here’s to laziness! Long may it rule. I know I’m a bit late to the party but I’ve finally added your blog to my feed reader so I can track your language and keep up to date with all your shenanigans and tips:) You’re definitely going in the top folder.
I’m kind of taking this to a new level, actually. I won’t go into details yet, but I’m seeing how “lazy” I can be in my business, and it’s the whole 80/20 rule thing. What is the 20% of activities that create 80% of my results? And what 80% can largely be discarded?
Interestingly, I was listening to this interview again the other day and Jason Freid gave me permission to be lazy as well…. definitely worth a listen:
http://questiontherules.com/interview-jason-freid-from-37-signals/
1. I love commenting here because it’s one place where I can say motherfucker with no shame.
2. People, as a collective, are stupid. If everyone’s working, then they think they have to be working. Naw, naw, my friend–’tis not true. Some of my best ideas have hit me when I’m actually giving myself the time to think, instead of just go, go, go.
3. I like lists.
4. The end.
I’m just starting to take the plunge myself, and while I realize it’s going to be a lot of hard work – especially initially, as I get started – ultimately I’m doing this because I want a different lifestyle which, for me, will not mean working 14 hour days, seven days a week.
Thanks for this.
Goddamn right Johnny! That SO needed to be said, I feel SO much better, and I SO concur. But I’ll keep this brief because I’m off to have a beer and enjoy my backyard in-ground pool and cushy south Florida lifestyle.
I slaved through 10+ years of corporate America and have survived 6+ of entrepreneurship. Am I done yet? No. Do I want to be? No. But I’ve worked hard enough to get to this lifestyle, so I’m damn sure going to enjoy it!
For those who haven’t learned from experience yet, laziness can reap incredible rewards, like actually having a life. Then there’s also the time for unstructured thinking=epiphanies=leverage=you can be lazier and still make money. Of course, you can’t then sink into a downward spiral of procrastination and complete inactivity (yes, it’s a risk), but you don’t have to go implementing at an 80-hour/week pace either.
True enough, finding your natural rhythm and working with vs. against it is key.
Thanks for stripping away the useless guilt. I have such high expectations of myself, I often push myself so hard. After reading this I feel deserving. I feel okay just as I am – more than okay. We need more of that in this world. Love ya Johnny!
Woah – timely. Last night I happened to have no deadlines to meet, and I wasted my time by finding fiddly busywork that made me feel like I was being productive (even though I knew I wasn’t). I could easily have read a book or gone for a long walk but, I feel guilty unless I’m yelling, “Can’t talk! Busy! Crazy busy!” at everyone around me.
I’m sick of the gurus giving me tips on how to work harder, especially when they wag a finger and tell me to count up the hours I waste watching TV. “Television – are you insane? Who the hell has time for that?”
The flip side of this that people aren’t talking about is what you do in those hours that you work. Goofing off on twitter and facebook and calling it networking isn’t work. If you’re going to take the time off then you need to make sure your working hours are just that – solid work.
I know too many entrepreneurs and freelancers who can spend all day on the computer and call it work, but have nothing tangible to show for at the end. If you do 30 hours of solid work in a week and take a day or more off then you’re going to end up well and truly ahead of most of your competitors.
Great post and well said Johnny.
What I’m thinking is that it is a great article, beautifully written and I don’t like the word “lazy”… it is too derogatory for important time that ranks right up there with “sleep”.