90 Hour Work-week with 40 Hours of Actual work - Is that possible?

Clearly, there is a storm brewing in India with legendary CEOs from the IT sector talking first about 70 hour work week and then 90 hour work week as well.

Infosys founder revealed that he used to go to the office at 6:20 am every day and return at 8:30 pm, which was over 14 hours of work a day. He added that he worked for 6.5 days a week till he retired and that he is very proud of it. And therefore, he is not going back on his statement that the ‘youngsters must work 70 hours a week.’

There are two discussions happening -

1. Motivation levels for CEOs vs Regular employees to work will be different
2. Work life balance and how different generations perceive hours of work etc

However, the main point of the debate is getting sidelined. I don't think CEOs truly care about hours of work. They do care about productivity. As long as we are able to increase productivity, I don't think hours is the moot point. The hours have just been used as a placeholder for productivity perhaps because billability in the IT industry is on hours perhaps.

Here's my take -

Let's take the discussion positively and look at bridging the productivity gap. Fortunately, all of us have access to AI tools to really ramp up productivity.

To achieve a 90-hour workweek in terms of productivity, we need the right tools. I am interpreting their directional views as a nudge about using tools to boost productivity, not necessarily working long hours. Here are five tools that can help you accomplish this.

AI Chatbots - First, an AI chatbot is essential. Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Cloud AI, or Perplexity can automate tasks and generate code quickly and accurately. Opt for the paid versions to access the best features and set up regular automations to save time. Tools like perplexity should be handy at all points of time I feel.

Coding assistants - Second, coding tools like Replit or Cursor AI can be game changers. These tools help moderate, comment on, and create code efficiently. The paid versions of these AI agents can significantly speed up app development and other tasks.

Visual thinking tools - Third, for productivity enhancement, visual thinking tools like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Canva are invaluable. These tools help you create quick presentations with top-notch visuals, which is especially useful for marketers.

AI features within our regular softwares - Fourth, use AI tools within the platforms you already use. For instance, integrate AI in Excel or Google Sheets or Slack and use Copilot in PowerPoint. This approach helps you increase productivity with familiar software.

Mobile AI tools - Fifth, mobile AI tools can be transformative. For video creation, use InShot; for audio notes, try AudioPen; and for task management, use Trello with integrated AI to prioritize tasks effectively.

I can do a longer discussion about each of these points but this will have to be discussed based on individual team needs. In case you have any requirement, I can chat with you - do DM me!

By combining these five strategies, you can achieve a 90-hour workweek in just 40 hours. Remember, it's about productivity, not just time spent working. Boost your efficiency and make your managers happy—this could lead to your next promotion. So let's embrace this concept positively and move forward! Else, again, we will have this discussion on how efficiency has dropped as we count hours and not productivity!