I work less now

I used to work 12-hour days. Wake up, open laptop, close laptop, sleep. I thought that was what it took.

Then I burned out. Badly. Couldn't look at my product for two weeks. Felt guilty the whole time.

When I came back, I set a rule: 6 hours a day max. No exceptions. I was sure I'd fall behind. I was sure everything would fall apart.

Nothing fell apart. Actually, I got more done in 6 focused hours than I ever did in 12 scattered ones. I stopped pretending to work. Stopped refreshing things. Stopped doing tasks that felt productive but weren't.

I'm not saying everyone should work 6 hours. But I am saying I lied to myself for years about what "working hard" actually meant.

Have you ever cut your hours and gotten better results? Or does that only work for some people? I'm genuinely curious if this is sustainable or if I'm just in a good phase.