Every Minute Over 40 Hours Is Borrowed

Every minute over 40 hours is borrowed from somewhere.

Sleep. Family. Exercise.

The things that actually recharge you so you can be effective during those 40 hours.

And the interest rate on that loan is brutal.

Unlike financial debt, energy debt compounds invisibly.

You don’t see the bill until your body or your relationships present it.

I asked a client to track his actual hours for one week.

61 hours.

“Where did those extra 20 go?”

Long pause.

“Mostly email,” he said. “And meetings I didn’t need to be in.”

Twenty hours a week. A thousand hours a year.

That’s not dedication. That’s habit masquerading as necessity.

Where are you borrowing from?