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I quit 6 time-wasting habits and now work only 4 hours a day
If I tell you that I’m a successful entrepreneur who runs a thriving business, you might picture an always-on founder who works late into the night and regularly puts in overtime. But I’ve built up sustainable passive income streams and work just four hours a day.
As a content creator, I make videos about productivity and brand-building. I’ve also written three books, sell products, and offer courses and coaching. But I don’t want to spend 100 hours a week working at the expense of time to travel, write, or be with my husband and two young daughters.
About five years into my career, I started auditing my time to identify and reduce waste.
Here are six time-wasting habits I quit so I could level up my life:
1. I quit taking every meeting
I live in this amazing world where lots of awesome people want to talk to me, call me, meet with me, hire me. But if I took every single meeting, I’d get nothing else done.
When I get a meeting invitation, I don’t just click yes right away. I look to see: Do we have an agenda? Is that agenda important to me? Have we discussed this already?
If I decide a meeting doesn’t align with my priorities or could be handled better with an email exchange, I let the organizer know that it wasn’t a fit for my current priorities or there needed to be a more specific agenda for the time commitment.
I love looking at a clean, intentional calendar every day.
2. I quit working without time blocks
If I have to do something, it’s blocked off on my calendar. On a given day, I might have a two-hour block to schedule my next three months of video content creation and a two-hour block to write an article like this one.
This forces me to prioritize what I’ll focus on and agree to give it my full energy. I usually have no more than two, maybe three, time blocks per day so I can give everything the attention it deserves. It makes me — and my work — better.
3. I quit saying yes to everything
I used to say yes to every podcast interview, coffee chat, and collaboration request. I thought that’s what you had to do to build a business. But I was exhausted and my work was suffering.
Now, when someone asks me to participate in something, I check if it aligns with my current goals. Last month alone, I said no to three podcast interviews that would have taken hours of prep time. I used those hours to create content for my YouTube channel and work on my next book.
As a result, the people who matter most respect my time more, and I respect myself more, too.
4. I quit social media scrolling
About two years ago, I realized I was spending 90 minutes a day mindlessly scrolling Instagram and TikTok. That’s 10.5 hours a week I could be writing or spending with my daughters.
The first thing I did was turn off all my notifications. Then I moved social media apps off my phone’s home screen so I’d have to intentionally search for them. Now my phone stays out of my bedroom at night, and the first thing I look at in the morning is a note with my goals — not Instagram.
I still use social media for my business, but I’m intentional about it. I check it twice a day for 15 minutes each time, and I curate my feed to only show content that energizes me.
5. I quit starting my day reactively
I used to wake up, grab my phone, and immediately start responding to emails and texts. By 8 a.m., I was already stressed and behind.
Now I start every day with what I call my three buckets:
- Movement: I do 20 minutes of stretching or hit the gym.
- Mindfulness: I journal or read for 15 minutes.
- Mastery: I spend 30 minutes on whatever I’m trying to master — right now, it’s learning Spanish.
This routine takes just over an hour, but it means I start my workday at 9 a.m. feeling energized and focused instead of frazzled. I don’t check email until after I’ve completed all three buckets.
6. I quit consuming without creating
Three years ago, I’d spend entire evenings watching YouTube videos about content creation and business strategy, but I wasn’t actually creating anything myself. I felt stuck and behind.
Now I have a strict rule: I don’t consume any content unless I’ve already created something that day. Before I watch anything, I need to have written, filmed, or planned my own content first.
This shift completely changed my mindset. When I do consume content now, I see it as inspiration rather than a sign I’m falling behind. Last year alone, this habit helped me publish dozens of YouTube videos and write my third book.
Amy Landino is the bestselling author of Good Morning Good Life, personal brand coach and the award-winning creator of AmyTV on YouTube. She is an instructor in CNBC’s online course How to Earn Passive Income Online. Follow her on Instagram.
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