Eat Sleep Work Repeat Summary

1-Sentence-Summary: Eat Sleep Work Repeat identifies why so many workplaces are unnecessarily stressful, how it makes employees unhappy and businesses less profitable, and what we all need to do to fix this growing problem.

Read in: 4 minutes

Favorite quote from the author:

Eat Sleep Work Repeat Summary

Audio Summary

Listen to the audio of this summary with a free reading.fm account*:

At my last job, I would get home at 6 pm some nights and think “I only have four hours left in my day?!” It was frustrating to feel like I was on the hamster wheel of going to work, coming home and getting a meager amount of time with my family, and repeating the process.

You might be sitting there thinking “wow, he got four hours after work, I can barely get one!” Either way, you know you’re overworked and stressed out. And more likely than not, you hate your unfulfilling job, too.

It’s not fun to feel trapped by this endless cycle. And I’m not even going to get into the despair that comes from the thought of doing this for 30 years or more.

You want to break free, but what does it take? This is what Bruce Daisley will teach you in Eat Sleep Work Repeat: 30 Hacks for Bringing Joy to Your Job. You’ll discover why this is such a problem and give you some specific, actionable steps to alleviate it.

Here are the 3 of the most insightful lessons about work from this book:

  1. Being unhappy with your job makes you less productive and affects your health.
  2. Get more energy into your workplace by limiting notifications, taking a lunch break, and going on frequent walks.
  3. Go deeper than airplane mode with “monk mode” to enhance your productivity.

Ready to see how to break out of the endless cycle of Eat Sleep Work Repeat? Let’s go!

If you want to save this summary for later, download the free PDF and read it whenever you want.

Download PDF

Lesson 1: Your health and productivity suffer when you’re unhappy at work.

If you hate your job, you’re far from alone. Countless survey results paint the grim picture that people hate going to work. A lot. 

A mind-blowing 83% of Americans with jobs say that work makes them stressed. Over 50% of British employees would say they feel burned out. What’s worse, many workers throughout the world rank work as the second-worst activity they could do, only behind being sick.

This somber situation doesn’t get any better when we consider all of the negative effects of all these statistics. Far from merely being undesirable, stress at work destroys your body and mind.

One study examined how the regular 15-hour workdays that are common for new investment bankers affected their health. It identified that they experienced insomnia, weight changes, hair loss, and panic attacks. After just four years in the position, they had higher rates of cancer, heart issues, and diabetes.

Their mental health also took a turn for the worse. Increased rates of anxiety, depression, and even addiction were also common. 

And even if you can read all this and remain heartless enough to only care about profits, you’ll be interested to learn that it negatively affects workers’ productivity, too. Countless studies identify how stress harms efficiency. Sleep deprivation, for example, will make your employees make more mistakes, costing you money.

However, the data also confirms that people who are happy at work are 22% more productive. Let’s see what it takes to get there.

Lesson 2: Get out for frequent walks, take a proper lunch break, and limit notifications to have more enthusiasm at work.

One of the most life-changing things I’ve done recently was turn off the email notifications on my phone. I also have an automatic do not disturb period in the mornings. 

You should try something similar if you want to reduce stress at work. If you’re on a desktop most of the day, turn off email notifications completely. It takes a long time to get back to work after distractions, but only checking mail when you decide you want to will help.

Also, never skip lunch. And if you can, eat with a coworker whenever possible. Some people pride themselves in never taking a lunch break, but they’ll end up far less productive than those who do eat. These individuals are also more likely to be tired over the weekend and get poorer quality sleep

Eating with others is also important for boosting your mental health. According to research, having lunch alone contributes to unhappiness almost as bad as having a mental illness!

Another powerful tool to enhance your enjoyment at work is going for walks. I used to do this more frequently when I worked outside of my home and now I wish I did it more! It not only improves your physical condition, but also helps your mind stay sharp, boosting your concentration and creativity.

Lesson 3: Boost your productivity with “monk mode” sessions.

Let’s get into some more intense ways to focus at work. Be warned, though, you need to make sure that you talk about these with your employer first. Even if you’re not sure how they’ll take it, at least start the conversation.

Okay so what is monk mode? Think of it like airplane mode on your phone, but you have to intentionally implement it. With your coworkers, designate times that nobody can contact you in any form. 

For me, monk mode happens every morning from 7:30 am until about 10:30 am or noon, depending on how much work I have to get done. It’s incredibly effective to shut out all distractions. My work is more efficient and it makes me feel better when it’s time to relax later in the day.

If you don’t work for yourself, try establishing that you’ll work from home during these sessions. Even if you need to have them at the office, you can try using headphones during certain times to drown out distractions. 

You might also want to try disconnecting completely from everything for an entire day. Although you probably won’t do this on very many weekdays, at least make it happen on weekends.

Research indicates that those that take Sunday off and work 48 hours a week get a lot more done than those who don’t take a day off and work 56 hours. So don’t be afraid to take a break, too!

Eat Sleep Work Repeat Review

I really love how Eat Sleep Work Repeat goes into both the problem of workplace stress and some reasonable solutions to fix it. This growing problem needs to be resolved if we are ever to improve our overall happiness and productivity. I’m grateful for people like Daisley to call out harmful workplace culture and try to make it better!

Who would I recommend the Eat Sleep Work Repeat summary to?

The 57-year-old executive who is always telling their employees to get back to work when they’re chatting even a little bit, the 28-year-old that is tired of their job, and anyone that wants to be happier and more productive at the office.

Last Updated on September 21, 2022

Rate this book!
This book has an average rating of 3.8 based on 5 votes.

Luke Rowley

With over 450 summaries that he contributed to Four Minute Books, first as a part-time writer, then as our full-time Managing Editor until late 2021, Luke is our second-most prolific writer. He's also a professional, licensed engineer, working in the solar industry. Next to his day job, he also runs Goal Engineering, a website dedicated to achieving your goals with a unique, 4-4-4 system. Luke is also a husband, father, 75 Hard finisher, and lover of the outdoors. He lives in Utah with his wife and 3 kids.