Indian-Origin CEO Shares How He Balances 6-Day Workweek With Athlete-Style Rest

Hardik Jagda, an Indian origin CEO who is based in San Francisco, recently shared when his workday starts and what it looks like. During a conversation with Business Insider, the founder and chief executive of Proximity Works revealed that he wakes up between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM daily, and works for six days a week. Instead of checking emails, he uses the quiet morning hours to exercise and plan business strategies. "After 7 AM, my time isn't mine anymore," Jagda shared.

"I like to start the day early, so I'm protecting the first three hours as time for myself. I usually wake up between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Between 3 and 6 a.m., I don't touch my emails or look at messages," he added.

"I use these early hours to focus on strategic decisions. There was one point, roughly two years ago, when we had to interview a lot of engineers quickly for a new project."

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Athlete-style rest

While speaking to the media outlet, he revealed that he reads a lot of autobiographies from entrepreneurs and athletes to get an idea about their lives and achievements.

"I noticed athletes would talk about starting their day early to train and work in time for rest and recovery throughout the day. I started modelling my days after this, waking up early so I could have four to five hours to build my company before work started. I still stick to this lifestyle now that I'm a full-time founder and CEO," he said.

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The "996" work culture

The 996 work culture is a demanding employment schedule that requires staff to work from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, for six days a week, totalling 72 hours per week.

"I sat down with my talent acquisition team and found a way to redesign our recruitment workflow to take place within 72 hours. That wouldn't have been possible if I didn't give myself the three-hour morning block."

Despite putting in long hours himself, Jagda strongly opposes the infamous "996" work culture.

"For the most part, I work six days a week, spending my Saturdays focusing on a key skill I want to develop, like public speaking," he added.

"Even though I've become a morning person, we're fine with engineers who are more productive at night, as long as they maintain a five-to-six-hour overlap with the other engineers."