5-Hour Formula: Live More, Work Less

Economist and sociologist Dr. Juliet Schor has spent decades studying working time, overwork, consumer culture, and now the global movement toward shorter workweeks. In this conversation, we unpack what the data actually shows about four-day weeks: productivity, well-being, turnover, carbon emissions, and the business case for working less.Juliet shares stories from companies and public...

Futurist and author Alex Soojung-Kim Pang joins Alex Gafford to unpack why the most productive people and teams don’t work more, they work better. We dive into Pang’s trilogy (The Distraction Addiction, Rest, Shorter), the research behind 4–5 hours of daily deep work, and how design thinking turns shorter-hours experiments into durable operating systems. We also explore AI’s role, global adoption...

Guest: Dr. Ellen Joan Ford, Author of #WorkSchoolHours, TEDx Speaker, and Leadership ConsultantEpisode SummaryIn this episode, Alex Gafford talks with Dr. Ellen Joan Ford, former New Zealand Army Officer, researcher, and author of #WorkSchoolHours. Together they unpack how the modern 9–5 is failing working parents and what it looks like to redesign work around real life.Dr. Ford shares the three...

If I asked you to envision your perfect day — one that leaves you energized, satisfied, and fulfilled — what would it look like? Not a vacation or a lucky break, but a normal day. That’s the question at the heart of this episode.Inspired by Heroic’s Brian Johnson and his idea of the Masterpiece Day (itself borrowed from legendary coach John Wooden), Alex shows how to design an intentional day...

Managing time is important, but managing energy is the multiplier. In this episode, Alex explains why your physiology drives your psychology, and how energy fundamentals like sleep, diet, and movement are the foundation for focus. He also breaks down the recovery protocols that sustain performance inside a 5-Hour Workday.This isn’t just theory, it’s a playbook for becoming a cognitive athlete....

Meetings are the biggest time sink in most work calendars—yet very few of them actually move the needle. In this final episode of the Productivity Pyramid series, we tackle the hidden cost of meeting overload and explore how to reclaim your time without sacrificing collaboration.In This Episode:If you’ve ever felt stuck in back-to-back meetings wondering “When am I supposed to do my actual...

What if the most powerful productivity hack wasn’t doing more—it was protecting time for what matters most?In this episode, Alex breaks down Time Blocking, the #1 tool that helped his team eliminate distractions, reduce reactivity, and consistently finish high-value work—faster.You’ll learn how to:Shift from reactive mode to deep, focused executionUse time blocks for strategy, writing, creative...

What if you could work fewer hours—and actually get more done? In this episode, Alex introduces the Productivity Pyramid, the framework behind the 5-hour workday that helped his company increase productivity, revenue and retention all while working less.You’ll learn how to:Eliminate the most common time wasters that secretly drain your workdayUnderstand the cognitive cost of distractions and...

In this episode of the 5-Hour Formula, we’re diving into the truth about prioritization—why most people get it wrong, and how the most successful people in the world approach it differently.Spoiler: they don’t start with to-do lists. They start with better questions, better boundaries, and better systems.If you want to work fewer hours while getting more of the right things done, this episode is...

Episode SummaryIn this episode, I share the single most powerful strategy that changed everything for me during my Five Hour Workday experiment: habit design. I explain how I went from running on willpower to designing my day with intention using a simple formula that helped me stick to the habits that mattered most.I talk through:How I learned to automate willpower so I could focus on what...