I was in a shop early the other morning, 7am espresso in hand, bracing for another marathon shift. The owner smiled and said, "You’re always up early."

I told him the truth: work.

He gave that classic, knowing, wry chuckle and shrugged. "Well, someone’s gotta do it."

I smiled politely, but that throwaway phrase rattled around in my head all day. Looking at my schedule, fourteen-hour days, often seven-day weeks, the question demanded an honest answer:

"Do they?"

My neighbour, old boy, ex-IBM top dog, always says, "It's called business, not busy-ness."

When did we in the creative industry agree that pathological working hours were simply par for the course? For years, I wore overwork like a badge of honour. As a freelance director, I've worked until there were no tubes left to take home. Now, running a business that crosses the pond, the demands are greater still.

The Dragons on Dragons' Den tell aspiring entrepreneurs they must give it everything. And there's truth in that. But somewhere along the way, we've confused commitment with permanent availability. We've all traded battle stories over pints in Soho or WhatsApp groups. I pulled an all-nighter for that deck. Three straight weekends to deliver that film. Haven't had a proper Friday night off in a month. A deranged mixture of passion, grit, and the supposed price of creative ambition. 

So why do we keep doing it?

Fear, mostly. The market is brutal, budgets are tighter, and if we don't say yes to an absurd turnaround, someone else will.

Now, AI can radically compress the mechanics of production (most of the time). And yes, it's also helping fuel the expectation that everything should/could happen faster. More options, more iterations, tighter deadlines. But let's not pretend this started with AI. We've been working ridiculous hours long before anyone typed their first prompt.

What AI hasn't eliminated is the time it takes to develop an authentic idea, establish workflows, test, experiment, and execute to a commercial standard. Faster generation doesn't automatically mean better creative work.

But perhaps this is also our opportunity.

As the creative landscape shifts beneath our feet, we have a rare chance to reset expectations. To be more transparent about the process, have better conversations about realistic schedules and budgets, because surely the promise of working faster should be more than simply working more.

That said, to any agencies or clients reading this: my office is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Call, email, text, WhatsApp, or DM me. Whatever works.

I'm all yours.