9-9-6 treats every hour as equal. They’re not.
When does working more hours mean doing less work?
The 9-9-6 work schedule — 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week — is a badge of honor. Hustle culture! Do what you love! It’s the modern way of working.
Or is it?
We’ve been here before and I’m skeptical. The problem isn’t the hours. It’s the emptiness inside them.
🕰️ Effort ≠ Impact
We’ve built a culture where effort and impact are treated like synonyms.
You can work twelve-hour days and change the world. But you can also work twelve-hour days and still not know what you’re building toward. You can fill your calendar and never move the needle.
9-9-6 isn’t dangerous because it’s exhausting. It’s dangerous when — and because — it disguises directionless work as meaningful progress.
I’d be embarrassed to present a project to a client or manager or executive with “72 hour weeks” as the headline. Truly, why would they care? I’d be proud to share the results and the impact of that project, though, in hour 73.
💡 Impact Density > Hour Count
A 9-9-6 mentality treats every hour as equal. They’re not.
The greatest irony to me is that in our AI-obsessed era, we’re back to the 20th century obsession with counting hours worked. The 21st should celebrate impact density —
how much clarity, creativity, and consequence you can pack into each block of time.
Whatever your rhythm looks like 9-9-6, 10-6-5, or something else entirely,
the question isn’t how much you’re working.
It’s what is your work actually doing?
Because the only thing worse than working all the time is working all the time without making an impact.
🤖 The Great Irony of Work with AI
The modern version of work ethic isn’t about endurance — it’s about discernment.
Consider the impact (!) of the Anthropic campaign I talked about last week. People fell in love with the concept of being seen as valuable because of their thoughts.
In other words, their work. Not their hours.
Work arithmetic was nowhere in that campaign because Anthropic understands how businesses — and people — measure impact. As AI speeds everything up, reflection becomes a competitive advantage.
The teams that win won’t be the ones working the longest.
They’ll be the ones asking, constantly: “Does this move the needle, or just move time?”
