'I quit working 60 hour weeks for four hour days - and earn just as much'

A woman who used to spend 12 hours in the office has shared how she now works just a few hours a day - and earns the same amount. Alex Coward, 35, used to run a team of around 100 at a fast-paced London recruitment agency before she ended up with burnout and decided to become self-employed four years ago.

Alex, who is a business consultant from Paisley, loved her job but says the long hours meant she was late in getting a diagnosis for endometriosis. She said: "I was passionate about my job. But working long hours meant I was late in being diagnosed with endometriosis because I never took the time to go to the GP and discuss my symptoms."

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. It can affect women of any age, including teenagers, and is a long-term condition that can have a significant impact on your life.

The symptoms of endometriosis can vary, though according to the NHS the most common include pain in your lower tummy or back, which is usually worse during your period, period pain that stops you doing your normal activities, pain during or after sex, pain when peeing or pooing during your period, feeling sick, constipation, diarrhoea, or blood in your pee or poo during your period, and difficulty getting pregnant.

It took Alex a year to recover from the burnout and when she started building her own consultancy, she discovered the advice of productivity gurus who told her the only way to be successful was to work long hours, evenings and weekends. Instead, self-proclaimed 'master procrastinator' Alex decided to 'work smarter, not harder'.

She said: "All the way through school I was a daydreamer and a procrastinator; I was so last minute on all of my essays. Then I realised, that instead of procrastinating, I could just purposefully not work.

Alex Coward, 35, decided to become self-employed four years ago.

"By procrastinating, I trained myself to be uber-efficient in my work and ability to get s*** done. Procrastination gets a bad rep but it shows us that we can achieve so much in such a short amount of time. We as a society have made ourselves less effective and less productive by continually working more and more hours."

Alex said she now works around four hours a day and still manages to get "more done than ever". She added: "My business is continually growing year on year and I’m helping others learn how to get time away from their business so they can start living their lives again."

Now, Alex’s alarm goes off at 8am so she can start her morning routine slowly, work for a couple of hours, go for a long walk before doing two more hours and logging off for the day. She will often take a morning off to see friends or practice yoga, and is much happier.

Alex, who runs consultancy ARC Virtual Solutions Ltd, said: "I now feel content and peaceful. Having the freedom to spend time with my husband, taking long weekends to hike around Scotland, and being able to focus on and prioritise my physical and mental health - these are all far bigger successes than what I see in my bank account. Even though I am making more money now than when I was employed."