What Counts as Work
In a recent interview, the first question was: "Is it true that you work no more than four hours a day?"
Yes. I plan about four hours of focused work each day. Teaching, class prep, running the business, and work that needs my full attention all count. One class lasts two hours, so two classes fill the day.
I count learning separately.
I Chose the Four-Hour Limit
The limit is deliberate. Four hours of concentrated work is about all I can do well in a day.
At BCG, long days became normal. I learned a great deal there, but I did not want that rhythm to become permanent. When I first started using AI, I even felt anxious about wasting my usage allowance. If I still had time left in a usage window, stopping felt wasteful.
Running my own business gives me the chance to arrange the day differently. The company is still young, and four-hour days have not made me financially independent. I am finding out whether I can build a viable business without giving up the way I want to live.
AI Starts With Context
I handle research, teaching, course design, content, and business operations on my own. If I want to move all of that forward in four hours, AI cannot start from a blank chat every time.
My tools already know how the business works, what is in the curriculum, and that I often learn best through visual teaching material. I do not have to explain myself again for every task or start each project from scratch.
That context gets the first draft much closer to something I can use.
I Turn Repeated Work Into Systems
Some workflows run automatically. Others begin when I trigger them. I still publish, contact people, and make the final decisions myself.
When I want to learn a subject, my knowledge system organizes the material into a form I can absorb. Before a class, AI can read the client’s questionnaire and the existing course material, then help me prepare for that person. My business dashboard and weekly review pull scattered information together and show me what needs my attention next.
I do these jobs again and again. The systems keep me from searching, sorting, and explaining the same context from scratch each time.
I Decide What Done Looks Like
Systems save time. I still decide what matters most that day.
BCG trained me to enter a new field quickly, find the central question, and explain complex material simply. Before I start a task, I define what I am producing and how finished it needs to be.
AI speeds up execution. Clear scope cuts context switching, repeated explanations, and revisions that do not improve the result.
I Count Learning Separately
Work and learning feel different to me. I read books, keep up with AI, and study how to teach better. What I learn eventually appears in the business, but I do not need to turn it into a deliverable that day.
I enjoy learning, so I keep it outside the four-hour count. If I included it, I would sometimes spend much longer at the computer.
The four hours are for focused work. Learning has its own time.