Chetan Bhagat's 4-hour workday pitch vs Narayana Murthy's 70-hour workweek: India's productivity debate reignited

Chetan Bhagat says four hours of dedicated work a day can be enough if employees prioritise effectively. His remarks contrast with calls for a 70-hour workweek, reigniting the debate over whether productivity depends on longer hours or better focus.

Author Chetan Bhagat has a new productivity proposal for India's workforce: avoid looking at the clock and the number of hours you are expected to put in at your desk, and instead focus on how much work you can actually get done.

He argued that even four hours of dedicated work can be enough for a day, reigniting an old workplace debate over whether longer hours mean greater productivity.

Chetan Bhagat's four-hour-a-day work push to boost productivity

Bhagat made these remarks at the 18th edition of the Project Management South Asia Conference (PMSAC) in Bengaluru on 3 October and said, "I work 4 hours a day, and that is enough if you do it with full dedication."

"If you genuinely do work for 4 hours in a day, that is enough, good enough. It doesn't mean you have to include meetings, breaks, Wi-Fi issues, and other hunky-dory stuff that the offices often witness. In those 4 hours, you have to prioritise everything you put on the table," he added, according to media reports.

However, he also stressed the importance of prioritising everything that an employee puts on the table. According to Bhagat, people should not simply start focusing on putting only four hours a day into their work and consider the rest of their day to be free. Instead, his idea is to encourage people to figure out what deserves their attention the most and complete that task with utmost dedication and discipline.

His remarks come at a time when workplaces in India and around the world are grappling with questions over how long employees should work and how their working hours can be used more effectively, even as the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) fuels uncertainty over the future of jobs and how work itself could change.

Four-hour workday vs 70-hour workweek: The productivity debate

Bhagat's remarks stand in sharp contrast to views expressed by some industry leaders, including Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, who has advocated a 70-hour workweek for young Indians, linking longer working hours with the need to improve the country's productivity and competitiveness. Murthy later said that he had worked more than 70 hours a week for over four decades and, during the period when India followed a six-day workweek, his weekly working hours often reached 85-90.

Commenting on how employees can prioritise work-life balance, Bhagat noted, "No one cares for you unless you are. Do what makes you feel happy; follow 11 rules of life," a reference to his 2024 book, 11 Rules for Life: Secrets to Level Up.

His argument attempts to shift the productivity debate away from how many hours an employee spends at work to what they accomplish during those hours. But whether four hours of focused work can really be enough for a day may depend on the nature of the job, workload, and responsibilities.

About the Author

Swati Gandhi is a digital journalist with over four years of experience, specialising in international and geopolitical issues. Her work focuses on foreign policy, global power shifts, and the political and economic forces shaping international relations, with a particular emphasis on how global developments affect India. She approaches journalism with a strong belief in context-driven reporting, aiming to break down complex global events into clear, accessible narratives for a wide readership.<br><br> Previously, Swati has worked at Business Standard, where she covered a range of beats including national affairs, politics, and business. This diverse newsroom experience helped her build a strong grounding in reporting, while also strengthening her ability to work across both breaking news and in-depth explanatory stories. Covering multiple beats early in her career has helped her be informed about her current work, allowing her to connect domestic developments with wider international trends.<br><br> At Live Mint, she focuses on international and geopolitical issues through a business and economic lens, examining how global political developments, foreign policy decisions, and power shifts impact markets, industries, and India’s strategic and economic interests.<br><br> She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English (Honours) from the University of Delhi and a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University. Her academic training has shaped her emphasis on precision, analytical rigour, and clarity in writing. Her interests include global political economy and the intersection of geopolitics with business.<br><br> Outside work, Swati focuses on exploring her passion and love for food. From fancy cafes to street spots, Swati explores food like a true foodie.

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