The Hard Work Myth

by Barnaby Lashbrooke

WORKING HARDER IS FAILING YOU Entrepreneurs are working harder than ever, with almost half working 50 hours a week or more, swapping quality time with our families for long hours in our offices. The problem is, it isn’t working. Despite the sacrifices, less than a third of businesses started today will survive long enough to see their 10th birthday. In The Hard Work Myth, you’ll discover why working harder is a waste of time and learn the simple but high impact techniques used by some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs to achieve more, without working harder About the Barnaby Lashbrooke is on a mission to destroy the myth that working hard is the key to success for business owners. Why? Barnaby worked 100+ hours every week for years until one day, feeling particularly fed up and stressed, he decided to stop. He did the unthinkable and limited himself to a strict 35-hour work-week - and something incredible happened as a result. His business took off, sky-rocketing into a high-growth global business involving more than 600 people with more than $32 million in total sales. The Hard Work Myth is Barnaby's manual on how he transformed his business into a high-growth success story despite working fewer hours than ever before. He believes if we can do it, you can (and should) too - and The Hard Work Myth explains exactly how.

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 26, 2020

Reviews

[Jordyn Bonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes we all want to work smarter and not harder, but HOW? This book contains a light, high-level framework for using your time for the stuff that matters to you. It is geared primarily towards entrepreneurs, but I think the basic approach is broadly applicable:

1. Cultivate self-awareness around when, where, and how you tend to do your best work
2. Deal with distractions
3. Create and enforce the structures that enable you to do your best work
4. Know what to work on when (and what not to work on ever)
5. Always be looking for small changes with big impacts

All easier said than done! I'll return here and upgrade to five stars if I find that I've quickly turned into a Time Wizard.

[Abi Olvera · Rating 5 out of 5]

By committing to yourself that you'll only work 35 or 40 hours a week, you force yourself to prioritize. The book also gives examples of famous entrepreneurs (Bill Gates, Bezos, etc.) who structure long breaks into their work for high level strategy. Bezos famously only examines big decisions in the morning, and limits the number of tasks he focuses on. I made a long list of quotes from this book - great compilation of info from other productivity greats.

[David da Silva Contín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast to read. Many useful ideas and takeaways for business owners or people getting a business started. Points backed by data.

I'm taking with me: the Distraction Demolition, taking workcations, self-awareness for better delegation and hiring, the pains of hiring (put it off as much as possible), delegation will save you about 25% of the time it would take, read much more (and how to), build accountability, and the power of a tiny change.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some challenging ideas that felt like they can make a big difference. I was left wanting a longer, more developed book.