Futurist and author Alex Soojung-Kim Pang joins Alex Gafford to unpack why the most productive people and teams don’t work more, they work better. We dive into Pang’s trilogy (The Distraction Addiction, Rest, Shorter), the research behind 4–5 hours of daily deep work, and how design thinking turns shorter-hours experiments into durable operating systems. We also explore AI’s role, global adoption trends, and practical steps any leader can take this quarter.

Why listen

• Learn the science behind the “~4 hours of deep work” ceiling — and how elite performers pair it with deliberate rest.
• See how shorter-hours experiments solve real problems: retention, burnout, recruiting, founder sanity.
• Steal the cadence: protected focus blocks → deliberate breaks → lighter admin.
• Get a realistic view of AI: tool for climbing the value chain vs. blunt headcount cuts.
• Walk away with a 6-step playbook to pilot a shorter week or shorter day.

Highlights & timestamps

• 00:00 – Welcome & Origin Story
  How Blue Street and Pang first connected; pre-pandemic “are we crazy?” moments and why that skepticism faded.
• 01:13 – Not Just Tech
  Shorter profiled 100+ companies across law, manufacturing, professional services — proof the movement isn’t lifestyle-only.
• 04:05 – Real Business Drivers
  Retention and recruiting pressure → time as a benefit; burnout in high-pressure industries.
• 06:32 – Asia’s Pushback on Overwork
  Japan/Korea examples; cultural headwinds and 1,000-person organizations experimenting with reduced hours.
• 09:01 – Keep It an Experiment
  Why the model works best as a continuing experiment (not an entitlement) — and how that mindset fuels improvement.
• 10:00 – From Rest to Culture
  Blue Street’s book-club takeaways → company rituals: 90-minute deep-work sprints followed by devices-down walks.
• 14:15 – The Trilogy’s Arc
  The Distraction Addiction (attention design) → Rest (recovery for brilliance) → Shorter (scaling it organization-wide).
• 18:25 – Training Analogy
  Performance rises when recovery rises; why sleep quality and mid-day movement aren’t “nice-to-haves”.
• 20:41 – The “Four Hours” Chapter
  Darwin, Dickens, scientists, composers: repeated pattern of 4–5 hrs/day of truly deep work.
• 21:41 – Reframing the 10,000-Hour Rule
  Ericsson’s data: ~4 hrs/day of deliberate practice plus ~12,500 hrs deliberate rest and ~30,000 hrs sleep over a decade.
• 24:52 – Layering Deep Work + Deliberate Rest
  Walks and active breaks amplify problem-solving via the default mode network.
• 32:01 – Design Thinking for Work-Time Reduction
  How Pang structures Shorter: iterate, test, codify — and how leaders can apply it personally and organizationally.
• 38:59 – Future of Work & AI
  AI enables time dividends if implemented by workers to climb the value chain; beware “consultant-driven” headcount cuts.
• 44:06 – Scale & Adoption
  Pang now sees ~1,000+ orgs operating with reduced hours at same pay across sizes and sectors.
• 45:21 – Big-Company Patterns
  Case approach: local pilots (e.g., stores/departments), heavy measurement, de-risk, then scale.
• 46:32 – Four-Day vs. Shorter Days
  Why 4DWs sell easily, but 5–6 hour days better fit school schedules and cognitive ceilings; both models work.
• 50:40 – What Pang’s Building Now
  Consulting with nonprofits; free open-access program to help teams design shorter-hours trials.
• 51:27 – Where to Start
  Access Pang’s open course and reach out for organizational design support (links in Resources).

The playbook (quick start)

1. Protect Deep Work (90 mins x 2–3/day): No Slack, phones, or meetings. Door-closed norms apply to everyone, senior leaders included.
2. Layer Deliberate Rest: After each sprint, 10–20 minutes of devices-down walking, light movement, or nature.
3. Right-size Meetings: Default 15 minutes. Require purpose + pre-read. End early on principle.
4. Design Thinking Cadence: Pick a team → define constraints → run a 6–12 week pilot → measure output/quality/CSAT → codify → expand.
5. Make It an Experiment, Always: Treat reduced hours as earned via outcomes; iterate policies quarterly.
6. Aim AI at the Busy Work: Have workers choose where AI removes drudgery so they can spend more time on high-value work and bank some of the time as free time.

Best Quotes from Alex Pang:

• “The only bad shorter workweek is the one you don’t implement.” 
• “Top performers don’t just practice more — they rest more and sleep better.”
• “Keep it an experiment — that’s how you prevent entitlement and keep improving.”
• “AI can enable a four-day week — but only if we choose to spend the time dividend well.”

Resources & mentions

• Books by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang: Shorter, Rest, The Distraction Addiction.
• Research: Anders Ericsson (deliberate practice); reinterpreting the “10,000 hours” rule.
• Case contexts: Netherlands/Nordics (shorter days), Japan/Korea moves, Medibank pilots, Iceland & UAE public-sector shifts.
• Blue Street Capital practices: 90-minute deep-work sprints + devices-down walking breaks.
• Get started: Alex Pang’s free open-access shorter-workweek program (via Four Day Week Studio).
• Related: #WorkSchoolHours by Dr. Ellen Joan Ford (ties to school-hours alignment for parents).

Connect with Alex Pang

• Four Day Week Studio-  (free program + consulting).
• Work with Alex: Organizational pilots for nonprofits and mission-driven orgs.

Connect with 5-Hour Formula

• Subscribe for new episodes + 5-Hour Formula Notes (concise 4–6 page book overviews).
• Join the newsletter + resources library.
• Share this episode with a leader who’s wrestling with retention, burnout, or “do more with less.”

Credits

Host: Alex Gafford
Guest: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Theme: Getting more done in less time — and reinvesting the saved hours in what matters most.

Guest: Dr. Ellen Joan Ford, Author of #WorkSchoolHours, TEDx Speaker, and Leadership Consultant

Episode Summary

In this episode, Alex Gafford talks with Dr. Ellen Joan Ford, former New Zealand Army Officer, researcher, and author of #WorkSchoolHours. Together they unpack how the modern 9–5 is failing working parents and what it looks like to redesign work around real life.

Dr. Ford shares the three core principles behind the Work School Hours movement,  valuing life outside work, focusing on outputs (not hours), and enabling flexibility, and how these ideas benefit both families and businesses.

From military leadership lessons in Antarctica to corporate case studies, this conversation explores the future of work for parents, leaders, and anyone who believes there’s a better way to work and live.

 Key Themes & Ideas

1.  Why the 9–5 Is Broken for Parents

• The mismatch between school schedules and work hours creates impossible pressure for working families.
• Most parents fall into one of three categories: forced out, burned out, or underpaid for part-time overload.
• Dr. Ford’s research reveals that this “societal-wide gaslighting” punishes efficiency and it’s time to change that.

 2. The Fourth Option: Work School Hours

• A model built on outputs, not hours.
• Flexible, high-trust work cultures boost both productivity and retention.
• Why guilt-free parenting and high performance are not mutually exclusive.

3.  Leadership Lessons from the Military

• How an Antarctic mission taught Ellen the power of focusing on outcomes over hours.
• Why output-based work makes teams more autonomous, motivated, and innovative.

4. Flexibility Beyond the Office

• Real-world examples of flexibility in healthcare, construction, farming, and emergency services.
• How even shift-based industries can offer family-aligned schedules with creativity and collaboration.

 5. Why This Makes Business Sense

• The data: flexible work drives higher retention, better recruiting, and improved well-being,  all leading to stronger performance.
• Happy people simply do better work.

Takeaways

• The Work School Hours movement isn’t just about parents, it’s about designing work for real life.
• Time is our most valuable asset, and flexibility is the modern workforce’s ultimate benefit.
• When people can thrive at home, they perform better at work.

 Resources & Links

• Website (Book & TEDx Talk): ellenjoanford.com
• Connect with Dr. Ford: LinkedIn – Dr. Ellen Joan Ford

Connect with Alex: LinkedIn - Alex Gafford

• Listen to all episodes of The 5-Hour Formula Podcast

Next Episode

Next up in this new series of conversations with experts reimagining work around the world, Alex Pang joins the show.
He’s the author of The Distraction Addiction, Rest, and Shorter, and one of the leading voices in the global movement to work less and live better.
In this all-time classic conversation, we dive into the science of rest, the 4-day week revolution, and how to design a workday that maximizes creativity, focus, and fulfillment.

If I asked you to envision your perfect day — one that leaves you energized, satisfied, and fulfilled — what would it look like? Not a vacation or a lucky break, but a normal day. That’s the question at the heart of this episode.

Inspired by Heroic’s Brian Johnson and his idea of the Masterpiece Day (itself borrowed from legendary coach John Wooden), Alex shows how to design an intentional day that combines art, structure, and experimentation. This episode ties together all the big ideas from the 5-Hour Formula series — from time and vision to routines, habits, prioritization, productivity, and energy.

You’ll learn how to sketch your ideal day, build the rhythms that make it possible, and track your progress so you can live more days with intention — and fewer by default.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why your intentional day is an experiment, not perfection.
• The “art” of sketching your Masterpiece Day (and how Alex designs his).
• How structure turns your ideal day into reality:
  • Morning and evening routines (the bookends).
  • Habit design that makes willpower almost irrelevant.
  • Finding your ONE Thing with the 80/20 rule.
  • Using the Productivity Pyramid to protect deep work and eliminate waste.
  • Energy management as the ultimate multiplier.
• The role of tracking: how small daily scores improve habits, energy, and results.
• Why John Wooden focused on details — and how that applies to your day.

Today’s Experiment: Track Your Intentional Day

For this week’s experiment, start tracking just one thing from four categories. Keep it simple, do it for seven days, and treat it like a checklist:

1. Core Work Activity — Pick the most important, trackable part of your work.
   • Example: client calls, writing sessions, or deliverables completed.
2. Key Energy Protocol — Choose one driver of your energy.
   • Example: 7+ hours of sleep, morning walk, or hydration goal.
3. Habit Tracking — Reinforce one small, repeatable behavior.
   • Example: “When I sit down at my desk, I’ll write for 10 minutes.”
4. Free Time Objective — Pick something you’ve said you don’t have time for.
   • Example: practice Spanish for 10 minutes after dinner, or play catch with your kids.

Do this for a week. Next week, add one or two more. Over time, your tracker becomes a blueprint for your intentional day.

Key Takeaway

When you track your day, you live it with intention. And when you stack enough intentional days together, you begin to see your masterpiece take shape.

As John Wooden said: “Make each day your masterpiece.”

Example: Alex’s Intentional Day Tracker

• Work KPIs → Client meetings requested: 15 / Booked: 3
• Energy Protocols (1–10) → Sleep: 9 | Move: 10 | Eat: 7
• Habit → “When I sit at my desk, I write for 10 minutes.” →  Yes
• Fun → Spanish practice for 10 minutes after dinner →  Yes

 References & Resources

• Brian Johnson — Heroic (Masterpiece Day concept)
• John Wooden — Make Today a Masterpiece mantra
• James Clear — Atomic Habits (habit design)
• Gary Keller — The ONE Thing (80/20 principle)
• Alex Pang — Rest and Shorter
• Matthew Walker — Why We Sleep
• Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz — The Power of Full Engagement

 Connect with Alex

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-gafford-09b2b87/
• Podcast: 5-HourFormula.com

Managing time is important, but managing energy is the multiplier. In this episode, Alex explains why your physiology drives your psychology, and how energy fundamentals like sleep, diet, and movement are the foundation for focus. He also breaks down the recovery protocols that sustain performance inside a 5-Hour Workday.

This isn’t just theory, it’s a playbook for becoming a cognitive athlete. You’ll learn how to generate, protect, and recover your energy so you can deliver eight hours of output in just five.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why energy management > time management in a shorter workday.
• The big three energy fundamentals — sleep, diet, and exercise — and how to personalize them.
• How movement fuels creativity and why sitting all day + one gym session mimics the worst of spaceflight (NASA research).
• The role of ultradian rhythms and why breaks must be restorative, not just time away.
• Why nature is the ultimate recovery tool (Marc Berman’s research).
• The role of the Default Mode Network in creativity and problem-solving.
• How Alex “trains for recovery” the same way he trains for Spartan races.

 Today’s Experiments

Choose one experiment this week (or both, if you’re ambitious):

1. The Wind-Down Alarm (Sleep)

• Set an alarm one hour before bed.
• Use it as your cue to start winding down: dim lights, shut screens, stretch, or read.
• Track your next-day focus and energy. Bonus: use a sleep tracker.

2. The Nature Break (Recovery)

• After a 90-minute work block, take a 20-minute walk in nature.
• No phone. No talking. Just notice your surroundings.
• Rate your focus before and after.

Key Takeaway

Time management matters. But energy is the multiplier.
Your physiology drives your psychology — and how you manage your energy determines your mood, creativity, decision-making, and ultimately the quality of your work.

Pick one fundamental — sleep, diet, exercise, or recovery — and start experimenting. That’s how you train like a cognitive athlete and get more done in less time.

References & Resources

• Matthew Walker — Why We Sleep
• Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz — The Power of Full Engagement
• John Ratey — Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
• Marc Berman — Nature and the Mind (attention restoration research)
• Alex Pang — Rest and Shorter
• Joan Vernikos — Sitting Kills, Moving Heals
• Tom Rath — Eat Move Sleep

 Connect with Alex

• LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/Alex-Gafford
• Website: 5-HourFormula.com
• Podcast: The 5-Hour Formula (Apple, Spotify, etc.)

Coming Next Week

In the next episode, we’ll zoom out from energy and recovery and look at your ideal day and how to track it. This session will pull together everything we’ve covered so far: time, goals, routines, habits, prioritization, productivity and energy. Think of it as the blueprint for bringing all the fundamentals into daily life.

Meetings are the biggest time sink in most work calendars—yet very few of them actually move the needle. In this final episode of the Productivity Pyramid series, we tackle the hidden cost of meeting overload and explore how to reclaim your time without sacrificing collaboration.

In This Episode:

If you’ve ever felt stuck in back-to-back meetings wondering “When am I supposed to do my actual work?”, you’re not alone.

This episode explores:

• Why meetings are often the final barrier to a more productive workday
• Real-world stories and stats that expose the hidden toll of unproductive meetings
• The C.R.I.S.P. framework for running meetings that are Clear, Relevant, Inclusive, Smaller, and well Paced
• A bonus look at how Microsoft Japan boosted productivity by 40%—just by rethinking meetings
• A simple experiment (plus a bonus!) to help you take back control of your calendar

Featured Framework: C.R.I.S.P.

A practical acronym to redesign your meetings:

• Clear – Purpose, agenda, and takeaways are defined
• Relevant – Only the right people attend, and only when necessary
• Inclusive – Rotate roles and invite quiet voices to contribute
• Smaller – Keep group size tight and meaningful
• Pacing – Shorten meetings and build in breaks to avoid burnout

This Week’s Experiments:

Part 1: Audit Your Meetings

• Look at your calendar from the past month
• Categorize meetings: Valuable,  Wasteful,  Unclear
• How many had a shared agenda? How many did you actively participate in?

Part 2: Reclaim Your Time

• Ask to skip or reduce a recurring meeting
• Send a kind message asking for an agenda if a meeting feels unclear
• If you lead meetings: run one using the CRISP method

Try these experiments for 1–2 weeks and watch your calendar become leaner, sharper, and more energizing.

Mentioned in This Episode:

• 4 Days a Week and The Overworked American by Juliet Schor
• Microsoft Japan’s 4-day workweek experiment
• EOS Traction / Level 10 Meetings (L10 format)
• Atlassian’s study on meeting engagement
• Microsoft’s Human Factors Lab Study of back to back meetings 

Connect with Alex:

Tried the time block experiment? Hit a flow state?

DM Alex on LinkedIn—he’d love to hear what changed for you.

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-gafford-09b2b87/

Stay Tuned:

Next episode: Energy Management (more important than time management) how managing our energy by the way we sleep, eat, move and rest determines the quality of our work, ability to focus and make decisions. A key idea in the shorter workday.  

What if the most powerful productivity hack wasn’t doing more—it was protecting time for what matters most?

In this episode, Alex breaks down Time Blocking, the #1 tool that helped his team eliminate distractions, reduce reactivity, and consistently finish high-value work—faster.

You’ll learn how to:

• Shift from reactive mode to deep, focused execution
• Use time blocks for strategy, writing, creative work—even repetitive tasks
• Protect your most valuable hours using 4 powerful tactics
• Reduce attention residue and multitasking fatigue
• Avoid the biggest mistake people make with time blocking (and how to fix it)

You’ll also hear insights from a recent beta group who ran this experiment and saw immediate improvements in both productivity and measurable KPIs.

This Episode's Experiment:

The Time Blocking Challenge

Use this 3-step system to build and protect one high-value time block each day:

→ Choose one high-value task (not just urgent)
→ Batch similar work to avoid switching
→ Protect your time using these 4 strategies:

• Build a Bunker
• Store Provisions
• Sweep for Mines
• Enlist Support

Then track your results:

• Did you accomplish more in less time?
• Was the quality of your work better?
• How did it feel to work with that level of clarity and focus?

Try it for one week—and see what happens.

Resources Mentioned:

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan

• Deep Work by Cal Newport
• UC Irvine research on attention residue (Gloria Mark)
• Tim Ferriss on 2–5 hour creative blocks
• Ultradian rhythm research on focus cycles
• Episode#6 : Work Less, Achieve More—The Ultimate Routine Shift (Click link to listen) 

Connect with Alex:
Tried the time block experiment? Hit a flow state?
DM Alex on LinkedIn—he’d love to hear what changed for you.

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-gafford-09b2b87/

Stay Tuned:
Next episode: The final proactive strategy in the productivity pyramid -Optimizing Meetings—how to reduce, improve, and restructure your calendar to make space for real, focused work.

What if you could work fewer hours—and actually get more done? In this episode, Alex introduces the Productivity Pyramid, the framework behind the 5-hour workday that helped his company increase productivity, revenue and retention all while working less.

You’ll learn how to:

• Eliminate the most common time wasters that secretly drain your workday
• Understand the cognitive cost of distractions and multitasking
• Shift from a “busy” mindset to a results-driven work culture
• Use the One-Day Time Audit, a simple experiment that reveals exactly where your time is going

Whether you're working 8 hours, 10, or even 12+ hours a day, this episode will help you reframe how you think about productivity—and give you the tools to reclaim your focus, your time, and your energy. 

Topics Covered:

• The surprising origin of the 5-hour workday
• The three levels of the Productivity Pyramid
• Time Wasters vs. Distractions: What’s the difference?
• Why attention residue and decision fatigue hurt your performance
• The myth of multitasking—and why it wastes 28% of your workday
• 3 key strategies that transformed Alex's work culture
• How to run the One-Day Time Audit to reveal your biggest productivity leaks

This Episode's Experiment:

The One-Day Time Audit
Track your time in 15-minute blocks for a full workday using 3 columns:
→ Activity – What you did
→ Distractions – What pulled your focus
→ Observations – What stood out

Run the audit, review your patterns, and see what happens when you become truly aware of how you’re spending your time.

Resources Mentioned:

• Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive
• The One Thing by Gary Keller
• Stanford University Productivity Study
• Harvard Business Review study on task prioritization
• UC Irvine research on attention recovery time

Connect with Alex:

Have a breakthrough from the time audit? Found your biggest time waster?
DM Alex on LinkedIn — he’d love to hear how this experiment changes the way you work.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-gafford-09b2b87/

 Stay Tuned:

Next episode: Alex dives into the top layer of the Productivity Pyramid—Proactive Strategies, including time blocking, AM/PM routines, and how to protect your energy for deep, focused work.

In this episode of the 5-Hour Formula, we’re diving into the truth about prioritization—why most people get it wrong, and how the most successful people in the world approach it differently.

Spoiler: they don’t start with to-do lists. They start with better questions, better boundaries, and better systems.

If you want to work fewer hours while getting more of the right things done, this episode is a must-listen. I’ll walk you through the three big ideas that have transformed how I plan my weeks and protect my time—and how you can do the same.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why personal time must come first—and how to put it on your calendar like a pro
• How to use the Focusing Question from The ONE Thing to identify your highest-leverage task
• Why weekly planning is more powerful than to-do lists
• What it means to prioritize using elimination, not just discipline
• The mental model behind “lead domino” actions that create exponential results
• How to say “no” gracefully but firmly (with help from Gary Keller and Greg McKeown)

 Weekly Experiment:

Take action by following this 3-step experiment:
Block time to plan your week (offsite and undistracted)

1. Prioritize personal time first (if it matters, it goes on the calendar)
2. Protect your ONE Thing (your most impactful work block of the week)

 Pro Tip: Color-code your personal time. Make it pop.

 Resources + Mentions:

• Book: Essentialism by Greg McKeown
• Book: The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan
• Domino Effect Demo Video: Watch this 5mm domino knock over a 100-pounder
• Tim Ferriss Podcast with Gary Keller (on how to say no)

 Recap of the 3 Big Ideas:

1. Prioritize Personal First — Your health, family, and values are made of glass. If they break, they don’t bounce back.
2. Start with One Thing — Identify the lead domino. The ONE action that makes everything else easier or unnecessary.
3. Eliminate Ruthlessly — Say no to the trivial many so you can say yes to the vital few. If it’s not a heck yes, it’s a no.

Join the Conversation:

Have you tried planning your week this way? DM me on LinkedIn or leave a comment—I’d love to hear how this experiment works for you.

Episode Summary

In this episode, I share the single most powerful strategy that changed everything for me during my Five Hour Workday experiment: habit design. I explain how I went from running on willpower to designing my day with intention using a simple formula that helped me stick to the habits that mattered most.

I talk through:

• How I learned to automate willpower so I could focus on what matters most
• The one simple formula I now use to design new habits
• Why identity is the foundation for habits that actually stick
• How I applied the four laws of habit design to change my behavior
• How I stopped relying on motivation and started building momentum through tiny wins
• Why celebrating my habits helped hardwire them faster
• How long it really took me to install habits (hint: it wasn’t 21 days)

What I’ve Learned

1. Start with Who I Want to Become

I used to set goals based on results I wanted. But real change happened when I asked:
“Who do I want to be?”
When I tied my habits to identity—“I’m a reader,” “I’m a Spartan athlete,” “I’m a present father”—my behaviors started to align naturally. Each time I acted in alignment, I’d say:
“That’s like me.”
It was a game-changer.

2. I Use Algorithms to Make Habits Stick

I follow a simple structure:
When [trigger], I will [behavior]

Examples from my day:

• When I get into bed, I will pick up my book and read one page.
• When I sit at my desk, I will review my vision statement before opening email.
• When I finish a call, I will stand and stretch for 60 seconds.

This formula helped me remove decision fatigue and lock in powerful, automatic habits.

3. I Design Habits Using the Four Laws

From Atomic Habits, I follow these steps when building a new habit:

1. Make it obvious – I leave visual cues (like my book on the nightstand).
2. Make it attractive – I pair habits with something I enjoy (like listening to a podcast while working out).
3. Make it easy – I start tiny. (One page, one push-up.)
4. Make it satisfying – I check a box, celebrate, or simply say “That’s like me.”

To break a habit, I reverse the rules:

• I make the bad habit invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying.
• Example: I removed social media apps from my phone and created friction to log in.

My Weekly Habit Design Experiment

At the end of this episode, I guide you through a 3-step process to create your own habit:

1. Ask Two Questions:
   • What’s one thing I need to stop doing?
   • What’s one thing I need to start doing?
2. Write Your Habit Algorithm:
   • When [trigger], I will [behavior]
   • Add: “That’s like me.”
3. Anchor It to Identity:
   • I want to be an energizer, so I work out in the morning.
   • I want to be a world-class advisor, so I review my vision before opening my inbox.
   • I want to be a lifelong learner, so I read one page each night.

Even better, I celebrate each habit—mini fist pump, smile, or just a simple affirmation. This tiny celebration gives me a little dopamine hit and helps the habit stick faster.

Resources That Helped Me

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham
• BJ Fogg’s Behavior Design Lab at Stanford
• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan

Final Takeaway

I’ve learned that I don’t n...

Episode Summary:

When I look back on my best workdays, they usually have one thing in common: solid routines. And the same goes for my worst days—when I feel scattered or drained, it’s almost always because I skipped my key habits.

In this episode, I share the three core routines that have helped me thrive while working five-hour days since 2016. These aren’t just time management tips—these are energy and focus systems that set the tone for every part of life.

By the end, I’ll guide you through a simple experiment to upgrade your own routine and build more intentional structure into your day.

What I Covered:

1. A Great Day Starts the Night Before (PM Routine)

When I improved my evening routine, everything changed. Better sleep, clearer mornings, and more presence during the day.

Here’s what works for me:

• I turn off all screens at least an hour before bed.
• I stretch, read, and wind down without digital inputs.
• I use a PM alarm on my smartwatch to remind me to start shutting it down.
• This routine helps me get high-quality sleep—and sleep is the foundation of everything: focus, decision-making, presence, even emotional regulation.

I used to scroll my phone or watch TV right before bed and wondered why I didn’t sleep well. Now I treat my wind-down time as sacred. As Matthew Walker says in Why We Sleep, sleep is the pillar that supports all other pillars of health.

2. Win the Morning (AM Routine)

When I stopped grabbing my phone first thing in the morning, my days immediately got better.

I now prioritize “pre-input time,” which means:

• No email, news, or social media first thing.
• Instead, I hydrate, journal, and get moving before screens.

Some mantras that have stuck with me:

• Goals before screens (from my cousin Jay Papasan)
• Sweat before screens (from mental performance coach Brian Cain)
• Creativity before inputs (inspired by Julia Cameron)

Most mornings, I get out of bed, drink water, write for 15 minutes, make breakfast for my family, help get the kids on the bus, and then head to the gym or yoga with my wife. No digital noise—just calm, clear, grounded energy.

When I do this, I step into my five-hour workday feeling rested, focused, and on purpose.

3. Shutdown Work with Intention

The biggest challenge I’ve faced—and seen in clients—is not starting work, but stopping it. Without a proper shutdown, I found that work would follow me into dinner, family time, and even sleep.

Here’s my shutdown routine:

1. I review what I accomplished that day.
2. I look at tomorrow’s top priorities.
3. I say out loud, “Shutdown complete” as I close my laptop.
4. I leave my phone in my office until after dinner.

That last step alone—leaving my phone behind—has made the biggest difference in being present with my family. My goal is to finish work before my kids get home from school so when they walk off the bus, I’m there, fully. No distractions. No lingering to-dos. Just presence

Your Turn: Try This Week’s Experiment

Step 1: Identify your current AM and PM routines
Grab a notebook and make two columns.

• In column one, list your current morning and evening habits.
• In column two, rate them:
  • (+) Positive = supports focus/energy
  • (–) Negative = drains or distracts
  • (=) Neutral = doesn’t really help or hurt

Step 2: Replace one negative behavior
Choose one habit to shift.
Example: Instead of checking your phone in bed, put it across the room and stretch or journal instead.

Small shifts build momentum. You don’t need a perfect routine—just a better one than yesterday.

Resources I Mentioned:

• Atomic Habits – James Clear
• Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker
• The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy
• The One Thing – Gary Keller & Jay Papasan
• The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
• Deep Work – Cal Newport