Hey it's Buono. You've probably heard of Google's 20% rule — employees get to spend 20% of their time on projects outside their main work. It's been around for over a decade and gets referenced constantly.
I always admired it. My personality naturally pulls me toward trying new things, so any framework that encourages exploration outside your core job was right up my alley.
But 20% wasn't enough for me. So I took it further.
The 50% Rule
Exactly what it sounds like. Half my working hours go to my day job. The other half goes to everything else.
Let me break down the math. I sleep about 6 hours, spend 4 hours with family, and lose about 1 hour to random life admin. That's 11 hours spoken for. Leaves me 13 hours of actual working time per day.
Split that in half: 6.5 hours for work, 6.5 hours for me.
That's the target. Every single day.
What Goes Into the Other 50%?
Whatever I feel like. Seriously. Here's a typical mix:
- Vibe-coding an English learning app
- Testing a brand new image generation model
- Prepping my next YouTube video
- Reading a book I grabbed over the weekend
- Writing a blog post
- Watching a foreign drama on Netflix with English subtitles
Some of it's productive. Some of it isn't. I don't really care. The core principle is: follow the impulse. Do whatever pulls you in that moment.
This connects to the idea of serendipity — those unexpected discoveries that only happen when you're exploring without a fixed agenda. The best stuff in my life has come from exactly this kind of unstructured time.
The Portfolio Theory of Life
Shu Yamaguchi — the author of "Why Do the World's Elites Train Their Aesthetic Sense?" among other things — talks about this idea of running your life like a portfolio. Alongside your main career, keep investing small amounts of time into low-risk, high-upside bets. Things that probably won't pay off, but if they do, they pay off big.
He speaks from experience. That book made him famous in a way his main career alone never would have.
I've seen the same pattern in my own life on a smaller scale. YouTube, electronics, content creation — none of it was part of my "career plan." But all of it compounded over 5-10 years in ways I never predicted.
If you want a life that isn't completely dependent on your employer, this kind of long-term side investment isn't optional. It's essential.
"But Can You Really Do Your Job in 6.5 Hours?"
Fair pushback. Especially if overtime is your normal.
But I genuinely believe it's possible. Here's what I do:
Eliminate commuting — Remote work is the single biggest time unlock. No debate.
Cut tasks ruthlessly — Only work on what actually matters. Issue-driven, not busy-driven.
Avoid leadership roles — More responsibility = less control over your own time. I stay as an individual contributor on purpose.
Minimize meetings — Only attend the ones that are truly necessary. Say no to everything else.
Optimize sleep — A 15-minute afternoon nap gives you hours of effective energy. Shift your sleep, don't just add more.
Run work and side projects in parallel — AI makes this very doable now. Let AI handle chunks of your day job while you focus elsewhere.
None of these are instant fixes. But none of them are impossible either. I treat each one as a necessary investment in my future and I practice all of them.
"But What About Your Career?"
Yeah. This approach means you're off the promotion track. You're probably leaving money on the table. Your boss might not love it.
But is climbing that ladder actually what matters most to you? Be honest.
I know this kind of life philosophy is a hard sell in Japan right now. But I think the AI era is going to push a lot more people in this direction whether they plan for it or not.
Might as well start on your own terms.
Catch you later ✌️
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