The 5 hour rule.
Have you ever wondered how much you can do and learn in just one hour? An hour is what it takes you to get up, bathe, get dressed, have breakfast and go to work.
An hour is what it takes you on your daily commute to work. Or how long a chapter of Games of Thrones lasts!
Millionaires and the 5 hour rule.
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Warren Buffett spends five to six hours a day reading five newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports. Bill Gates reads 50 books a year. Mark Zuckerberg reads at least one book every two weeks. Elon Musk grew up reading two books a day; according to his brother.
Oprah Winfrey assures that reading was a great ally in her success: “Books were my pass to personal freedom.” Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads for two hours every day.
//If you have not read our article How to have self-discipline to read at least 1 book per month, it will be of great help//
This practice of deliberate activities for an hour a day is known as the 5-hour rule.
What is the 5 hour rule.
Michael Simmons, Co-founder of Empact, describes the key factors of this rule in his article.
The basic concept is “empty space”. To better understand this, Simmons takes the example of chess master and martial arts champion Josh Waitzkin. Who instead of “squeezing” their days to obtain maximum productivity; it actually does the opposite.
Waitzkin, who is also the author of the book “The Art of Learning,” purposely creates a time of your day for “indiscipline”. A moment where this “empty space” is dedicated to learning, creativity and doing things with higher quality.
“I have built a life around having an empty space for the development of my ideas in the creative process, and to establish a physiological state that is receptive enough to allow me to tune in very deeply with the people with whom I work. In this creative process it is easy to find efficiency and take for granted the inner work that it takes to be on the edge of efficiency and creativity.
Advantages of the 5 hour rule.
- Plan learning in detail: This allows us to think carefully about what we want to learn. We should not only have goals of what we want to achieve; we should also have them for what we want to learn.
- Deliberately practice: Instead of doing things automatically and without any improvement, we can apply the principles of deliberate practice and thus continue to improve. This means getting things done and taking the time to get honest feedback on our work and improve specific skills.
- Reflect: This helps to get a better perspective on the lessons learned and assimilate new ideas. It also contributes to the development of reflective moments that lead to creative breakthroughs. Walking, for example, is a great way to process insights. Greats like Beethoven, Charles Darwin and Steve Jobs, fans of walks prove it. Another way is through powerful conversation partners.
- Spend time just learning: This includes activities such as reading, having academic or philosophical conversations, taking classes in something, observing others, among others.
- Solve problems as they arise: Most people experience problems during the day and forget their to-do list. Having this “empty space” creates the moment to deal with small problems; before they get too big.
- Carrying out small experiments can show potential benefits: Whether an experiment works or not, it’s an opportunity to learn and test your ideas.
The 5 hour rule and the change in our lives.
Focusing on learning “automates” our behaviors. So we can keep learning instead of stagnating. Every event is an opportunity to improve.
By concentrating on learning as a lifestyle, you get a lot more in the long run.
Take advantage of your free time doing things that truly make you grow. What sets successful people apart from the rest of humanity is how they spend their free time.
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And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business, you can read our book “How to create a company while working: Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
