Probably one of the most damaging ideas I ever bought into (some time in my late teens) was the idea that people are not generally capable of being productive for more than 35 hours per week, and sustaining it. It seemed true, because I always had trouble working a full work week, even on projects I cared about.

At the tail end of my 20s, I started to realize that this isn't the case, at least for me. I've always found it hard to get work done because I'm low in industriousness, but that can be overcome with routine, minimizing distractions, and knowing when to switch to easier tasks. I don't really know what my limit is, but it's well over 40 hours.

I wish I had listened to more people like John Carmack when I was younger, because maybe I wouldn't have wasted so much of my time over the past decade.