How to Work 60-hr Weeks Without Feeling Drained

I've developed a routine that allows me to work a lot of hours each week without feeling like I'm working a lot of hours. I used to complain about working more than 40 hrs/wk, but it's actually quite easy to just pile on hours after 40 and push that up to 60 --all without feeling like you're working more than 40 hrs/wk.

I've been through several 40 hr/wk engineering internships, and I always felt DRAINED when I got home each day. Even the weekends didn't help refuel me all the way. Why was this?

How is it that I can work 60 hrs a week and feel better than when I worked 40 at a "normal" 9-to-5?

Simple. It's all about spreading work throughout your day. Here's a 10 hr/day schedule for me:

8:30/9 AM: Wake up, go to office
10 AM - 1 PM: Work at office (3 hours)
1 PM - 2 PM: Get lunch, take it easy.
2 PM - 5 PM: Work at office (3 hours)
5 PM - 7 PM: Do some exercise and eat dinner
7 PM - 9 PM: Work at home or at a coffee shop (2 hours)
9 PM - 10 PM: Watch a comedy, or maybe Game of Thrones, or read a fun book
10 PM - 12 AM: Do some work at home (2 hours)
12 AM - 1 AM: Chillax, Facebook and whatnot
1 AM: Go to bed for 7-8 hours.

The benefit of spreading work out throughout the day and digesting it in smaller 2-3 hour chunks is twofold. First, you increase your productivity during these short bursts. Second, you let yourself recover your energy by 'dividing and conquering' rather than trying to hit all of the hours in one unforgiving go.

"But Nick!" you say. "That's only 10 hrs/day! That's a 50 hr workweek!"

As Professor Drew Isaacs from the Haas School of Business put it in one of my classes, "Saturday is a workday, dude."

What do I do on the one day that I have off? I might actually split my 10 hours between Saturday and Sunday, but usually I take Sunday off. I go nuts. I'll go hang in the city, go hiking, do whatever. Sunday is for rapid refueling and recovery.

Luckily, you don't need much rapid refueling and recovery if you're spacing your work out and getting enough sleep each night.

Working many hours per week is not something to be proud of. Ideally you would work very little each week, but still earn enough to enjoy a lifestyle you like. The path I've chosen sometimes requires me to put in a lot of hours --there's just no way around it. Nevertheless, it's still possible to work a lot of hours without feeling like crap.