Omar Zenhom argues that founders work 12-hour days not because they have to, but because busyness feels safe and looks like success. Real growth requires doing the hard thing: stepping back, cutting hours, and focusing on what actually moves the needle instead of staying perpetually busy.
And I tell people I run my business about 4 hours a day. They all say, "That sounds amazing. I would love to do that." And they just go back to checking Slack every 20 minutes. And here's the truth. Most entrepreneurs don't work long hours because they have to. They work long hours because it's comfortable. Because they wear busy as a badge. Because they feel like they're being productive. Because they feel like they're doing the right thing for their business by just being busy. By the way, this is part of the challenge of entrepreneurship. Where you have to do something you're uncomfortable with. You're uncomfortable stepping back, but in order to grow, you got to do things that are uncomfortable. Don't get in the way of your business's growth.
