I’m in the middle of my internship at a big consulting firm with 60-hour weeks, constant deadlines, travel every week. And on top of that I’m still running content, shipping videos, and writing this newsletter and much more.
The first 2 weeks broke me a little. What fixed it wasn’t working more. It was 3 small shifts that made the whole thing actually sustainable. Here they are.
1. Decide what is “enough” for each area
My biggest mistake was treating every area like it needed 100%. Internship 100%, content 100%, gym 100%. That math doesn’t work when you only have 24 hours.
What helped: deciding in advance what “enough” looks like each week. For me: perform well at the internship, post 4 videos + 1 newsletter and try to hit the gym 2x. That’s it. If I hit that, the week is a success. Defining the minimum version of a good week kills the constant guilt of “I should be doing more.”
2. Batch everything on the weekend
During the week I have no brain left after work. Trying to write scripts or plan content at 11pm was killing me.
Now I do almost everything on the weekend: one batch for the newsletter, one for filming, one for idea generation and partnerships. During the week I just execute small tasks (post, reply, schedule). The internship gets my best hours, and the business runs on structure. I basically try to make it as frictionless as possible during the week for me to just post.
3. Protect your sleep like it’s part of the job
Boring, but the biggest unlock. On 5–6 hours of sleep, everything suffered . My work quality, ideas, motivation, patience all decrease significantly if i dont get enough sleep.
Once I made 7–8 hours non-negotiable (even if it meant skipping a workout), everything else got easier. You can’t outwork bad sleep. Long hour weeks only work if you actually recover.
So what’s the point
You don’t need a perfect system. You need:
A clear definition of what is “enough”
A weekend routine to front-load the hard tasks
Non-negotiable sleep
If you’re juggling a demanding job or degree plus a side project, try these for one week. At least I can say that it’s keeping me alive rn. If you have other tips I’d greatly appreciate a email reply :D
💡 My Recommendation of the week
A recent publish about one of the most impressive people of our time:
Have a great week,
Chris