Sia Is More Productive With Her Four-Hour Work Week, Even Though She Says She Lacks Talent

Sia wants to experience as much as she can in her lifetime, so the Australian pop sensation is determined to keep her working time down to four hours a week. Even as she reveals that recipe for a good life, something many of us can only dream about, she also confesses that she doubts her own talents. Sia doesn’t feel that she lacks all talent, but she also feels that she’s not quite the super talented phenomenon that many believe her to be. Instead, she just feels that her high level of productivity makes her seem far more talented.

Sia Says The Key To A Happy Life Is To Work As Few Hours As Possible

The This is Acting performer says she places strict limits on the amount of time she will allow herself to be locked away in the studio, recording new songs or writing music. She says she doesn’t want to spend grueling hours hard at work, when the time could be better spent having fun and enjoying time with friends or family.

“My modus operandi is a four-hour work week. I’m trying to work out strategies for getting the most out of my life, so that I can spend time with my friends, my dogs and my husband,” Sia said in an interview with Britain’s The Observer Music magazine.

Sia writes songs for some of the biggest pop stars of today, like Rihanna, Beyonce, Adele, Britney Spears, and Katy Perry, and while she respects them for their hard work and dedication to their careers, she has no desire to be like them.

“[A schedule like Beyonce’s] would make me suicidal… Thinking that for two years I just have to get on this mouse-wheel and go round the world talking about myself, and singing the same songs. I respect the women I write for, because they work hard in a way I could never do.”

Sia Freely Admits She’s Not The Most Talented Songwriter

While Sia does pursue a singing career of her own in addition to the songwriting services she provides to stars like Rihanna, she says her success has more to do with hard work than talent. She says that out of 10 songs, one of them will be a hit, so it’s really just a law of averages for her.

“One out of 10 songs is a hit. So where a lot of people will spend three weeks on a song, I will write 10 in three weeks. Maybe the song that they sculpt is going to be just as successful as just one of the 10 that I wrote.”

This may be the key to success in any creative profession. While there are some incredibly talented forces out there, it’s the dedication to produce that really affects their success in life. Whether she realizes it or not, Sia may be a driving force in her own right, succeeding through raw determination. The singer and songwriter has become so aware of the intricacies of her career that she can recognize a hit versus a purely creative piece just by looking at them. It was this talent that recently had her questioning Rihanna’s choices in music, when the pop star showed interest in buying new songs.

”She chose four that she is interested in and I was surprised at her choices because she did not choose the obvious hits,” Sia said. “What she seems to be attracted to at the moment is less commercial.”

Sia’s wide range of songwriting endeavors can be sampled in This is Acting, which essentially is a compilation of songs rejected by the other pop stars for whom she writes. As such, nearly every genre is explored on the 12 track album, ranging from the reckless and wild sounds of “Cheap Thrills” and “Reaper” to the expected ballads that are expected of every album.

[Featured image by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images]