Working Hard Doesn't Cause Burnout - This Is Not Advice #7

A lack of progress does

Author

Jonny Davies
June 02, 2025

This Is Not Advice — Issue

Hola amigos,

It's been 47 days since I started this thing, and I need to tell you about something I'm experimenting with that might sound completely mental.

I'm trying out my version of the 996.

If you haven't heard of it, 996 is this work schedule that became famous in China's tech scene and was endorsed by the likes of Alibaba's Jack Ma. 9am to 9pm, six days a week. My twist? I'm doing 7am to 7pm.

And honestly? Up until now, I haven't been doing 996 at all. I've been doing something closer to 24/7.

Not because I'm being forced to, or because I think grinding equals success. I genuinely don't want to stop working because I'm enjoying it.

The weird part is how sustainable this feels right now. I think it may be because I have such a clear vision of where this is heading. I really really do believe in the idea.

If I were just building any random business for the sake of it, working this hard would be soul-crushing. But having that North Star, that thing that wouldn't leave me alone six months ago, makes every 12-hour day feel purposeful.

I'm also making lots of progress and that is incredibly addictive.

"Burnout actually comes from failing and things not working. Momentum is really energizing. The lack of momentum is super draining. I find that I have infinite energy to work on things that I find interesting and that are working, and almost none to work on things that I either don't find interesting or aren't working."
— Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO

Still, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't hard. Really hard.

Some evenings I sit at my desk and think, "Christ, I've been here for 12 hours straight." But then I look at what got done, what moved forward, and I can't bring myself to regret it.

I'm not recommending this to anyone. I'm not even sure I'm recommending it to future me.

But right now, in this moment, with this particular idea and this particular energy, it feels right.

The question I am however asking myself is: when will I know it's time to ease off a tad? When the excitement fades? When I start resenting the work instead of loving it?

I don't have the answer yet. But I'll keep you posted as I figure it out.

📚 What I'm Reading
Last week I mentioned I had started The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary. I'm now almost finished. It's brilliant, the section on meeting structure and OKR setting was superb and I think will become my playbook when needed.

🤔 Question for You
Have you ever found yourself in a phase where work felt so aligned with who you are that stopping felt wrong? How did you balance that with everything else? Hit reply, genuinely curious about your experiences.

Until next week,
Jonny