A viral X post from late last year pitted images depicting two hustle-culture lifestyles side by side: tech bro hoodie and Notes app icon on one side, a business suit and a copy of Cal Newport’s Deep Work on the other side.

“Left guy will most likely beat the right guy,” it concluded. “Guy on the left makes more money but guy on the right is happier,” one user commented. 

Whether it’s “grind mode,” “routine maxxing” or some other high-octane “sleep when you’re dead” approach to work, the right specific approach within that umbrella is unclear. It’s the question plaguing young founders and Silicon Valley types.

Maybe some aim to lock in, grind away from 9 to 9 six days per week, fueled by White Monster, a laptop, and a dream. 

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Or perhaps the more effective rise-and-grind technique is to stick to some version of Patrick Bateman’s morning routine from American Psycho. Alarm at 3:55 a.m. Ice bath. Affirmations. Lift some weights. Supplements. Ready to stare at a three-monitor setup for the next eight hours straight, interrupted only by a wearable tracker reminding you to hit your 10 thousand steps. 

One founder suggested the best combination is actually both. 

“There’s gonna be weeks where you have specific deadlines that you just have to grind it out, and you’re not getting good sleep, and you’re not really taking maybe the best health approach to your work routine,” explains Gannon Breslin, CEO of snowballapp.ai, in a recent TikTok post. 

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