If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from over four years of running my four-day a week, one-person business, it’s that you can’t work less if you don’t have a strong system. Without a unified approach, everything from your productivity, to your well-being, to your core business can suffer. But there’s a reason why this problem is so pervasive: Building a business where you work fewer hours takes time, effort, and commitment. And that’s where many people (including myself) can get stuck.
The Beginning of My Working Less
I started working less a few years back after welcoming my first child into the world—it was one of those momentous events that would change my outlook on work, life, and well-being forever. I knew I wanted to prioritise my family and children above all else, but I couldn’t possibly expect to do that when the majority of my time was spent at work. I soon realised I needed more than just a better work-life balance; I needed a totally new way of working. I was eager to work less, but I also had two big realisations:
- Working fewer hours seems really complicated—and it shouldn’t be. Once I started learning more about working less, I ran into so many schools of thought, conflicting perspectives, and outdated ‘productivity hacks’. If I wanted a simple framework for working less, I’d have to create it myself.
- I didn’t know myself as well as I thought I did. The more I explored transitioning to a shorter workweek, the more I realised I was struggling with many of the same habits, mindsets, and processes that keep the majority of us chained to our desks and to-do lists. If I wanted to confidently shift towards fewer hours, I’d have to be the guinea pig and test it myself.
So I dug in, got dirty, and did the work. Thankfully, after an entire year of tweaking and testing (first on myself, then with my brave wife’s business), I emerged with a tried-and-true process that was simple, intuitive, and adaptable for most individuals and businesses. Was it easy? Absolutely not. Was it worth it? Hell yeah.
I think it’ll be worth it for you too. In this guide, I’ve taken everything I’ve learnt about working less—the books, podcasts, articles, and personal experience—and distilled it down into a simple step-by-step process to create an effective, flexible process that will help you…
- Improve Focus on High-Value Tasks that directly contribute to growth and success, instead of getting bogged down in low-priority activities.
- Increase Creativity and Problem Solving by stepping back and letting your mind solve complex problems in the background.
- Better Work-Life Balance with more time to spend on hobbies, family, and self-care.
- Higher Productivity and Efficiency allowing you to maintain or even increase productivity without long hours.
To make it easy, I’ve included the tools, resources, and real-life examples you need to get through the process, from tracking your time to redesigning your workday.
As you work through this guide, follow the steps sequentially (as each builds on the previous), and you’ll finish with a basic strategy that can grow with you as you work towards a shorter workweek.
What Is “Working Less”?
There are a million different ways to define working less. Often, when people talk about “working less,” they’re referring to a shorter workday, shorter workweek, or simply cutting back on excessive work hours.
I define working less as prioritising rest and balance while maintaining or even increasing productivity.
Why Do You Need To Work Less?
When you equate long hours and busyness with productivity, your business, and your well-being suffers. From reduced creativity to increased risk of burnout, a lack of rest and balance causes problems at every level of your business (and life).
Having worked both a shorter day and shorter week over the last few years, I’ve learned to spot the telltale signs of overwork and busyness, often caused by poor habits. (Some of these issues might sound familiar to you. Before I had a strong system for working less, I suffered from them too.)
When you don’t have a strong system for working less…
- You increase your risk of burnout because you’re constantly working long hours without adequate downtime.
- You feel stressed leading to a cycle of poor health that impacts both your personal and professional life.
- You’re constantly “on” leaving little time for rest or enjoyment outside of work.
- Your decision-making, problem-solving, and ability to generate fresh ideas or solutions is limited.
- You’re juggling multiple tasks, creating the illusion of productivity—making it harder to focus on high-value work.
In short, without a strong system for working less, you lose.
What to Know Before You Start Working Less
If you’re starting to work fewer hours for the first time (or trying to do things the “right” way this time), there are two key pieces of information you need to know beforehand.
1) Where Your Time’s Going
What are you working on? When are you working on it? Why are you working on it? To build a process that helps you genuinely work less, you need to know exactly where your time’s going. Identifying trends, such as frequent multitasking, recurring distractions, or tasks that take longer than expected can actually bring clarity to why you’re working more than you need to.
HOW TO DO IT
If you don’t know what you’re spending your time on, follow my Guide to Tracking Your Time. It’s the first step to uncovering inefficiencies and boosting your productivity.
2) What Your Energy’s Like Throughout The Day
When are you most energetic and focused? When do you feel drained or distracted? This is invaluable information to help you focus on the times of day when you’re at your best, get more done in less time, and avoid the burnout that comes from grinding through low-energy periods.
HOW TO DO IT
Use my free energy map tool, and follow my Guide to Maximise Your Energy, Instead of Your Hours.
How To Build A System For Working Less
Follow these steps sequentially (as each builds on the prior), and you’ll end up with a comprehensive process that helps you do more in less time.
Step 1: Redesign Your Workday
The ability to work less starts with a redesign of how your time and energy are spent. I call this the Work Less, Do More Framework. When work is aligned with your natural energy cycles and focused on high-value tasks, you achieve more with less effort. But when misaligned—filled with distractions, unnecessary meetings, and low-value tasks—it saps your energy and productivity.
The Work Less, Do More Framework is comprised of four key elements that help you reclaim your time and work less, not more.
- Tracking Your Time: Where is your time really going?
- Eliminate Low-Value Tasks: Which tasks don’t drive real results?
- Map Your Energy: What are your daily energy patterns?
- Align Tasks to Energy Levels: What time of the day is best for high-value work?
HOW TO DO IT
Follow my Guide to Redesign Your Workday.
Step 2: Master Focus And Deep Work
Now that you’ve redesigned your workday, you know when your energy’s at it’s peak (and when you’re at your best). Next you need to figure out how to create an environment that minimises distractions and fosters deep, uninterrupted work. When you divide your day into blocks of different levels of focus and quiet like this, you can ensure you’re accomplishing more in less time, making working less a realistic goal.
Prioritising deep work requires you to:
- Batch your tasks
- Master the art of single-tasking
- Design your physical space for focus
Making these changes can seem intimidating, but it’s not a chore. Prioritising deep work is simply about identifying inefficient habits and replacing them with better ones. By approaching your work in this way, you have formed the basis for cutting down on work hours and boosting the quality of what you do.
HOW TO DO IT
Follow my Guide to Master Focus and Deep Work.
Step 3: Embrace Rest and Recreation
The belief that working longer hours equals higher productivity is deeply ingrained. But experience (and science) show that intentional rest and recreation actually boost productivity while preventing burnout. When you treat rest as an essential part of your workflow—rather than a luxury—your cognitive ability, creativity, and resilience all increase.
This approach isn’t just about “doing less”; it’s about strategically recharging to enable you to do more with greater focus and enjoyment. Deliberate rest helps activate the Default Mode Network (DMN), a brain system that starts up when you’re not focused on an external task. The DMN is what powers those “aha” moments you experience when you’re showering, walking, or simply letting your mind wander.
Embracing rest allows your mind to problem-solve on its own, turning downtime into a powerful tool for breakthroughs.
HOW TO DO IT
Follow my Guide to Use Rest to Work Less, and Achieve More.
Step 4: Measure and Iterate
Finally, you need to commit to regular evaluation and adjustments if you want to continue to work less, and do more. With your new system in place, measuring your results will provide insights into what’s working, what isn’t, and where you can continue to improve.
Start by identifying key metrics that matter for your goals, such as productivity, client satisfaction, project turnaround time, and financial performance. Track these metrics consistently to see how your new approach is affecting each area. For example, if you’re working fewer hours, are you still meeting deadlines and maintaining quality? Are clients responding positively to the outcomes of your work? How is this shift impacting revenue?
Additionally, measure how you feel. Your energy levels, stress levels, and overall well-being are the biggest indicators of whether your system for working less is genuinely sustainable.
HOW TO DO IT
Set a monthly or quarterly review to assess your progress and refine your approach. Adjust the parts that aren’t working and build on the parts that are.
How to Bring Your Working Less Strategy to Life
Now that you’ve completed the full Work Less, Do More Framework, you can take a damn nap. Thanks to all your hard work, you officially have all the tools you need to take charge of your time, energy, and focus, allowing you to accomplish high-quality work in fewer hours. Of course, the work is never done though.
To keep up your momentum:
- Focus on high-value tasks. Revisit the Work Less, Do More Framework whenever you notice your days filling up with low-value tasks.
- Embrace rest as part of your workflow. Remind yourself that rest is as essential to productivity as time on task.
- Regularly measure and iterate. Check in monthly or quarterly to evaluate what’s working and where there’s room for improvement.
Building a sustainable, shorter workweek takes time, but the rewards are worth it—a better balance, more energy, and more time for the things that matter. And if you’re ready for a bit of guidance, feel free to reach out: josh@joshallison.me I’d be thrilled to help you achieve a fulfilling work-life balance and take your productivity to the next level.
Josh
