Issue 28: It’s going to take as long as you want it to take.

How to build something of your own while working a 9-5 job

Last month, someone asked me on WhatsApp: How do you have time to post on all your social media platforms and still read books while working as a marketer? Here’s my answer to them:

About two years ago, I was on a team with some marketers and designers. We were working on an exciting project, and every week, we would set up a task sheet with the list of tasks to be completed that week. Most of the time, they were minor tasks that could be completed within two days, but we often gave ourselves a whole week to get things done, and even with the extra time, there was never a week when we checked off every single task on the list. We would meet every Friday, and there would still be a task or two that had not been completed. As we got closer to the project launch, we needed to work faster, so instead of waiting until the end of the week to give updates, we started providing updates every Wednesday. We would work from Monday to Wednesday, provide updates, and then create a new task sheet every Wednesday. I was surprised to see us finish the same tasks in two days that used to take us a week. I didn’t understand why. Were we lazy? Not really. We were passionate young minds who wanted to get the job done, but we still used a whole week to complete a task that could be completed in two days. Why?

Because we gave ourselves a week to finish the task. That was the reason.

Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands to fill the period of time available for its completion.” In other words, people adjust how fast they work based on how much work they need to do and the time available to do it.

The time you allocate for a task often determines its duration. If you set a one-week deadline, completing the task will likely take a week. Conversely, if you limit yourself to two days for the same task, you're likely to accomplish it within that time frame. That’s what I realised while working with my friends two years ago.

Last week, this fact was brought to my attention again while listening to Nathan Barry, the CEO of ConvertKit. On the podcast, Nathan talks about how you set the pace most of the time, and things take as long as you want them to take. If you want to get stuff done in one hour, you can get it done in one hour, and if you want to get it done in ten, you will get it done in ten.

I’ve seen this play out in my personal life a few times. When I clean my house on Saturdays, I take longer because I know it’s a free day. It’s not like I have work or anything to do. But when I clean my house on Wednesdays - and I do the exact same things every time I clean - I spend less time doing it. Because Wednesdays are workdays, and I don’t have the luxury of free time like I do on Saturdays. So Parkinson’s Law is at play right there: because I think I have less work on Saturdays, I actually spend more time cleaning every Saturday. But because I know I have more work to get done on Wednesdays, I always clean quickly.

Now back to Nathan. He discussed this concept while explaining how he built a business and managed to accomplish various tasks simultaneously. He mentioned that while working as a designer, whenever he finished his tasks quickly, he had more time to focus on his personal projects. Because he wanted to return to his personal projects quickly, he avoided spending a week on something that could be completed in two days. He worked swiftly, completed his tasks, and returned to building his own business.

If you observe those around you, you'll realise that this is how most people you know get things done. Consider that person who is a YouTuber, a product designer, a content creator, a food blogger - all at the same time. You might wonder, how do they manage it all? Don't they have a 9 to 5 job? Don't they need to do some research for their YouTube content? Don't they have to edit videos for their channel? And yet, they get all these done and still have spare time. How? 🤔

It's simple. They choose the pace that works for them. This is the key to building something of your own while maintaining a 9 to 5 job. You need to set the pace. If you have five tasks to complete in one week but manage to finish them excellently within three days, that means you have two extra days to work on your business idea, your YouTube channel, your travel plans, your novel, etc. As Nathan pointed out, having ten hours to do something doesn't mean you should spend ten hours on it. I’ve learnt to always ask, "How much time do I need to get this done?" not "How much time do I have to get this done?" You can choose to use one hour to complete the task even though you have ten hours (so you can utilise the remaining nine hours in other ways). At the same time, you can choose to use the entire ten hours even though you only needed one hour. Always ask, "How much time do I need?" not "How much time do I have?"

Also, I consider spare time post-work, not during work. My thinking here is simple: "If I can get this done fast enough, I will have spare time for other things." It’s better than trying to find some spare time while I’m still working on the unfinished project.

I should mention that this may only be interesting to folks who have other things they want to get done apart from their work. If you’re not interested in that, this may not be exciting to you [and that’s fine too] because it’s not like you have anything you’re using the spare time to do anyway. So, this is really for those who ask the question, "I have only twenty-four hours in a day, how do I get stuff done?"

The answer is here: If you can finish a task in 2 hours, don't use 2 days even if you’re given 2 days. Finish it in 2 hours and use the remaining 22 hours to get other stuff done.

Building something of your own while doing a 9-5 can be challenging, but with proper time management, you’ll be amazed at how much spare time you actually have to get stuff done. 🫵🏽

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You know someone who needs this. Send it to them. Or send it to your company’s Slack and go offline. 😅 Make sure someone else reads this.

To listen to Nathan Barry talk more about setting the pace, click here.

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Thanks to Daniel Odetoki for reading drafts of this.