The Game with Alex Hormozi

Episode: Do These 6 Things To Accelerate Your Success | Ep 959
Date: October 16, 2025
Host: Alex Hormozi

Overview:

In this episode, Alex Hormozi shares a step-by-step guide for reclaiming an entire workweek every month by strategically outsourcing key aspects of daily life. Aimed at entrepreneurs, professionals, and anyone looking to maximize output, Hormozi details six (plus a foundational “zero”) high-leverage investments that trade dollars for time—including groceries, laundry, cleaning, sleep optimization, landscaping, and transportation. The goal: redirect countless “humaning” hours into value-creating activity, compounding personal and financial growth for years to come.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Value of Buying Time Back

• Premise: Anyone earning above a modest wage can accelerate their progress by leveraging money to save time.
  • “You don't need to own a company for this to work. You just have to have more dollars than you have time and want to make a trade.” [01:08]
• Emphasis on opportunity cost: as time becomes more valuable, investing to get it back has a higher ROI than most financial vehicles.

2. Investment #1: Meals & Groceries

• Average Time Saved: 13.5 hours/week (over two full workdays)
• Activities to outsource: grocery shopping, meal planning, cooking, prepping, cleaning dishes, and portioning.
  • “The average American spends 13.5 hours per week. Huge. Per week, right? That's two full work days.” [03:45]
• Cost: ~$750/month, replacing all groceries/meal costs by using pre-made meal services or regular take-out.
  • “For a period of multiple years I ate Chipotle twice a day...it was like 500 plus transactions at Chipotle that my accountant told me and he was like, I can't believe you're spending so much money. I was like, but think of how much time I'm saving.” [06:00]
• Pro Tip: Standardize your meal choices for maximum efficiency (e.g., same simple meals daily).

3. Investment #2: Laundry

• Average Time Saved: 4 hours/week (16 hours/month)
  • Sorting, washing/drying, folding, putting away.
• Cost: ~$60–$80/month (drop-off service)
  • “Not met many founders who are like, 'You know what I really look forward to? Laundry.'” [09:15]
• Time Hack: Wearing the same outfit daily streamlines the process even further.
  • “If you do choose to wear the same thing every day, it makes it so easy to get up and go every morning... I can do it in the dark.” [11:10]

4. Investment #3: House Cleaning

• Average Time Saved: 6–7 hours/week (26 hours/month)
  • Deep cleaning (bathrooms, kitchens, floors) and daily tidying.
• Cost: ~$200–$300/month
  • “I also, weirdly, have yet to meet an entrepreneur who's like, 'You know what I really love? Just deep cleaning.' Most people don't.” [13:25]
• Alex’s Admission: His early “hack” was just never using items in his apartment to keep them clean by default.

5. Investment #4: Sleep Optimization ("Zero")

• Key Upgrades: Blackout curtains, earplugs, electrical tape to cover small lights, cooling mattresses, sleep masks.
• Rationale: Not necessarily creating more time, but dramatically increasing productivity per hour.
  • “You spend a third of your life sleeping, and the idea that so few people have optimized what they spend a third of their life in… it is the cheapest environment to optimize.” [17:50]
• Cost: One-time investments typically under $2,000.
  • “I will buy it for a founder who doesn't have it... Stop what you're doing right now, whatever. Immediately put whatever money you have, you're making out towards doing this… it's a non start.” [22:30]
• Sleep Quality Impact: Increases focus, decision quality, energy, and longevity.

6. Investment #5: Landscaping

• Average Time Saved: 2–3 hours/week (mostly seasonal)
  • Lawn mowing, weeds/trimming, gutter cleaning.
• Cost: ~$300/month
  • “As we get further up here, you're going to get less time for more money. But that's just the trade you make.” [25:45]
• ROI Observation: Diminishing returns as you go “higher up” the outsourcing ladder, but foundational for regaining focus.

7. Investment #6: Paid Driving / Commutes

• Average Time Saved: 1.5 hours/day (~30–45 hours/month)
  • Commutes, parking, walking to final destinations.
• Options: Private drivers, regular use of Uber/Lyft, eventually autonomous vehicles.
  • “For you, if you could take the 30 minutes a day or 45 minutes a day that you spend commuting… this is a monster one. This is about 30 hours per month, conservatively.” [29:15]
• Cost: ~$600–$1,000/month (varies by distance and frequency)
• Productivity Tip: Use commute time for messaging, work, content creation.
  • “A lot of the tweets that you see for my account… I actually tweet while I'm being driven.” [31:40]

8. Investment #7: Air Travel Optimization

• Average Time Saved: 1–10 hours/week (depending on travel frequency, up to 50–100 hours/year)
  • Use of semi-private airlines (e.g., JSX, JetBlue options) to skip TSA/security and minimize downtime.
  • “You literally just roll up to the plane, walk in, walk out… as somebody who flies a lot of private, I'm telling you it’s so close to what you get in private for such a fraction of the price, it’s a great deal.” [34:15]
• Cost: ~$1,000/month over regular flights; significantly less than full private.
• Biggest Gains: When frequent business travel is involved, this can save “travel days” each trip.

9. Aggregated Results – Buying Back a Week

• Total Monthly Costs:
  • Meals: $750
  • Laundry: $60–$80
  • Cleaning: $200–$300
  • Sleep Upgrades: One-time (<$2K)
  • Landscaping: $300
  • Driving: $600–$1,000
  • Air Travel: $1,000 (if relevant)
  • Total: ~$2,000–$3,100/month (depending on needs & geography)
• Total Time Reclaimed:
  • “...in total so far, 10 hours, 23 and a half hours plus more for that time. Now we're at 25 and a half hours per week, three full work days per week back.” [38:30]
  • Up to 45 hours/week (~one full work week) can be reclaimed, especially for high earners and frequent travelers.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I literally have two weeks for every week. And this is accessible for anybody who has a business over a certain level. And you don't have to do it all at once.” [43:05]
• “If I could go get myself another 100 hours a month for $1,500 a month, my God, I'd go to the time store and just buy it over and over and over.” [26:55]
• “Focus as the hypothetical extreme...doing nothing except for the task that we set out to do, then anything that is not that task distracts us from the ultimate goal that we have.” [41:00]
• “This may seem crazy to outsource humaning, but unless you get significant value or purpose or meaning from doing some of these more mundane activities, then I would strongly recommend getting yourself an entire week per week back.” [41:30]

Actionable Summary & Order of Implementation

Recommended Sequence (based on ROI and ease):

1. Meals/Groceries
2. Laundry
3. House Cleaning
4. Sleep Upgrades / Environment
5. Landscaping
6. Paid Driving/Transportation
7. Air Travel (only if frequent)

• “Do them in this order... and it’s one of the highest returns you can get on your time. More than the S&P 500.” [44:45]

Closing Thoughts

Alex’s core thesis: For anyone earning above subsistence, the fastest route to accelerated success in both business and life is “buying back time.” By starting small and reinvesting saved hours into high-value work—or intentional rest—listeners compound their productivity and happiness exponentially.
“Go spend this money so you can increase your active income rather than obsessing over passive and you will thank yourself forward in a few years.” [45:10]