11 to 8 ( 9 to 5 ) Was Eating My Time — Until I Learned to Manage It Right

You know, when I first started working the 11 to 8 shift, I thought, “This is going to be cool, I can sleep well, wake up late, and have a relaxed day” But nah, the reality hit different. The clock somehow goes into turbo mode. I attend some meetings, have lunch, do a bit of work, attend more meetings, and boom — it’s already 8 PM. I kept asking myself, “What did I even do today?”

“The 11 to 8 shift moves at light speed. By the time I realise it’s lunchtime, it’s already time to log off.”

There was a point when I seriously started feeling like I was wasting a lot of my time. Not because I wasn’t working — I was — but because there was no structure. I wasn’t in control of my day. That’s when I realised, it’s not about how many hours you have, it’s about how you manage those hours.

So I started getting a bit serious — I built a daily to-do list. At first, it was just simple notes. Nothing fancy. But later, I shifted to a more structured setup using ClickUp — kind of my own organised todo list. Then I started fixing time slots for things: a proper tea break, focus mode to get work done without distractions, and even a 30-minute buffer before meetings just for prep. That prep time used to be a mess earlier — I didn’t use it well, and I’d just sit idle waiting for the meeting. But once I realised I could squeeze in useful work in those 30 mins? Seriously that helped me a lot.

“Even 30 minutes is gold when you know what to do with it.”

Once my day got that bit of structure, I slowly got the motivation to make use of the post-office hours too. Earlier I used to feel super tired and just lie down scrolling through random stuff. But now that the day feels a little more owned, that 8 to 10 PM stretch feels doable. Not intense hustle, but small consistent efforts. Like a little bit of DSA, system design stuff, some AWS/cloud learning, and maybe writing for my blog.

“Consistency > Crazy hustle. I'm not here to burn out and become a productivity zombie.”

One big mindset shift for me was to not pressurise myself into working late nights or sacrificing my health. I believe we should work smart, not stretch ourselves unnecessarily. So I decided that 8 to 10 is enough. Do what you can. And that’s it.

And weekends? Oh, I’m not one of those “weekends are for building empires” folks. I chill, take proper rest, go out with friends, and do something light if I feel like it. Because for me:

“Go with the flow, grow with the flow.”

I don't want to feel guilty every time I relax. Resting is also progress — it recharges you. And on the other side, if I do feel like writing or learning something on a Sunday evening, I go for it.

So yeah, earlier I used to think 11 to 8 ruined my life. But now, I feel like I’m using that 11 to 8. I’ve found my own rhythm — and that rhythm makes space for career growth too. I'm not perfect, I do skip things sometimes, I do feel lazy, but that’s life.

“If you ever feel like you're wasting time, just redefine your day. Learn from how you messed it up before, and build a system that works for you.”

Sometimes we’ll cheat on the schedule. That’s fine. But not every time. 😉

Welcome to Chiristo’s Blab Corner — where I don’t give the usual tech stuff, just real talk about my messy but improving life. 😄