What happened when I stopped working 8 hours a day

What happened when I stopped working 8 hours a day

The eight-hour workday traces back to the second industrial revolution, so why are so many of us still working that way in the 21st century, in businesses we started specifically to do things differently? I did it for years. I worked eight hours, then ten, then twelve, and the days blurred into one long line that I didn't consciously choose. I was exhausted, depleted, and convinced that more hours meant more progress. It didn't. In this episode, I share what happened when I flipped everything and moved to a six-hour working day, covering what I expected, what actually happened, and why what I discovered surprised me completely. In this episode, you'll hear: * The fear I had going in, and why neither of the things I was worried about actually happened * What changed about the quality of my work, my decisions, and my energy when the window got smaller * The thing that fills a full working day that isn't actually work at all * And what the hours either side of my working day taught me about what makes the middle possible The big takeaway: Working less didn't make me achieve less . It made me achieve more, and it changed my understanding of what productivity actually means. Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

The four things holding you back from building the business you REALLY want

You know exactly what you want to build, so what's actually stopping you? In almost every conversation I have with a founder who is ready to build the real version of their business, the same four things come up, and today I'm naming them out loud, because sometimes just hearing them is enough to take away their power. In this episode, you'll hear: * The four most common things I see holding founders back, and why they're not what you think they are * A reframe for each one that changes how you see it completely * Why these four things show up in nearly every founder conversation I have, and why you are absolutely not alone in experiencing them * And why I now see them as old friends who remind me I'm human and doing something brave, rather than reasons not to build the thing The big takeaway? None of these are reasons to stop. They're signs that you care, that you're building something that matters, and the first step to overcoming them is simply to see them for what they are. And if you would like to book your Onwards and Upwards Experience, book your session here: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/book-your-call [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/book-your-call] Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

The business you actually want is sitting in your someday folder

Is there a version of your business that you already know about, one that you can see, feel, and describe in detail to anyone who asks... but you haven't built it yet? That's what today's episode is about and why so many founders keep the business they actually want tucked away in a someday folder. In this episode, you'll hear: * Why I spent years building the safe version of my business while the real one waited patiently, and what that actually cost me in energy, momentum, and time * Why building the wrong thing is exhausting in a very specific way, and why no matter how hard you work at it, it never quite feels like enough * Why building the business you actually want isn't selfish but is the most honest thing you can do as a founder * And the question I'd love you to sit with: what would it actually take to move your someday business out of someday and into now? The big takeaway: The business you actually want to build doesn't get easier the longer you leave it. It gets heavier, and every year you spend building the safe version is a year the real one waits. Until next time, stay quietly disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

Build specifically, not loudly: the alternative to hustle

The alternative of hustle is  one word: specific. Not doing less, but doing the right things for the right people with the right intention behind every decision. Hustle says do more of everything and see what sticks, but building specifically says know exactly who you're building for and what actions actually move you forward. In this episode, I walk through four things that genuinely move the needle for founders who want to build differently, and they all share one thread in common. In this episode, you'll hear: * Why nothing else works until you know exactly what you're building, and how one clear sentence makes every decision simpler * Why specific relationships with the right people in the right rooms matter more than broad networking and collecting business cards, and what I discovered after experimenting with 20 networking events in one month * What happens when you create content for one specific person rather than trying to appeal to everyone, and why that specificity is what makes people stop, not the algorithm * The most powerful of all four: why word of mouth from right-fit clients only happens when the first three are working, and why every wrong-fit client costs you the referral you actually needed The big takeaway: Loud is broad, quiet is narrow, and narrow is where the right people, the right clients, and the right results actually live. Building specifically might feel slower, but it compounds, and it gets you exactly where you're meant to go. Until next time, stay quietly disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]

Hustle culture is one of the most expensive things you can buy into

Working hard isn't the problem but working hard on the wrong thing or in the wrong way is where it gets expensive. And not just in energy, but in time spent going in the wrong direction, and decisions made from exhaustion rather than clarity. This episode is about why hustle culture feels like progress from the inside but works more like a hamster wheel, and why the same action done differently can produce completely different results. In this episode, you'll hear: * Why there is logic in hustle culture, and why that logic is exactly what makes it so sneaky * The cold outreach example that shows how the same action done the hustle way versus your way produces completely different outcomes * Why hustle feels like momentum but rarely gets you anywhere you actually want to go * The unseen costs of buying into it: energy, time, direction, and the quality of every decision you make while you're exhausted * And the two questions to ask before taking any action: is this right for me, and is this the way I want to do it? The big takeaway: Before you do more, stop and ask whether it's the right thing to do more of, because the effort only works when it's going in the right direction, and hustle culture never asks you that question. Until next time, stay Quietly Disruptive. ### Ready to go further? Sign the pact and join the Quietly Disruptive movement. It's free and takes seconds. Sign the Pact and every week you'll receive Field Notes, my weekly letter where I share what the Quietly Disruptive path really looks like behind-the-scenes. You'll also receive exclusive invitations to workshops, in-person meetups, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com/signthepact] Read my story of how I became a Quietly Disruptive business coach, which involves over twenty-five years of building businesses and model horses (#notatypo). Link: https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com [https://www.beckybenfieldhumberstone.com]