What does 20 hours a week get you?

What would YOU value most?

(1.5 min read)

The benefits of earning a comfortable living in just 20 hours / week are numerous:

• 😴 Better sleep (no alarm clock + less stress)

• 💪 Better fitness

• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 More time with friends

• 👨‍👩‍👧 Easier time raising a family

• 📚 More time to read and learn and explore

• 🏀 More time to play and be silly

• 🏝 Easier time coordinating a vacation

“If a genie could grant me even just 1 extra hour per day, I’d be able to ______.”

Common answers are:

• Stick to a workout plan

• Read the books on my list

• Learn a language

• Write thank-you notes

• Maintain friendships better

• Play with my kids more

• Publish a book

• Finish that side project

If your schedule weren’t as demanding as it currently is, what would you like it to feature?

---

My current work arrangement is 20 hours / week.

I can report from personal experience.

Since I’m not currently working the grueling pace that I’ve been used to (>40 hr/wk in American corporate or startup jobs), it’s nice to:

🟢 prioritize fitness in the morning (but not need to wake up extra early for it). I’m the fittest I’ve ever been.

🟢 meditate daily

🟢 play basketball multiple times per week

🟢 actually make progress on some of my personal / family to-do lists

🟢 prioritize weekly therapy appointments

🟢 have breathing room (helpful for not feeling overloaded when the unexpected happens)

🟢 imagine having a kid

🟢 see family members more, especially now that it’s summer and various family members have been coming to town

I haven’t achieved my goal of $200k/yr in 20hr/wk.

So it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. 🌈🦋

My reduced schedule does have the drawback of less income.

Which stresses me out a bit.

Working fewer hours per week is always easy to do.

Spending less per week is not.

It’s not easy to downsize our biggest expense (housing).

So we’re still spending as if I were working full-time. 😬

However…

I see in myself a notable difference from my 20s to my 40s: I care much less now about striving / achieving / accomplishing / proving.

I care about finding meaning and fulfillment. Savoring. Exploring.

So I feel like I’m on the right track.

I hope that AI (and the singularity that Ray Kurzweil has been predicting could happen by 2029) will bring so much productivity and abundance for the world that we can all reduce our workload and direct our attention how we please.

I love that thought.

---

🕙 What we learned in recent posts:

🟢 Irrationally passionate

🟢 Favorite flavor of suffering

🟢 How to accumulate real wealth instead of faking it

🟢 Don’t yuck my yum

🟢 [See all posts]

---