{"id":655336,"date":"2026-08-25T08:47:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T08:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/655336\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T08:47:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T08:47:41","slug":"despite-a-45-million-net-worth-big-bang-theory-star-still-works-16-hour-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/655336\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite a $45 million net worth, Big Bang Theory star still works 16-hour days"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kunal Nayyar has a life most would describe as a dream. He landed his breakthrough role as Rajesh Koothrappali on The Big Bang Theory at just 26, rose to global fame almost overnight, and went on to earn around $1 million per episode at the height of the show\u2019s success\u2014becoming one of the highest-paid actors<\/a> on television ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today the 45-year-old actor, producer, and entrepreneur has an estimated net worth of $45 million and a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 spanning film, television, publishing, and tech. But none of that has insulated him<\/a> from difficult days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When things start to unravel, Nayyar doesn\u2019t reach for motivational podcasts or productivity hacks. He repeats one word to himself instead: Surrender.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, if I find myself really banging my head against something, and it\u2019s just one of those days where everything\u2019s going wrong, I just tell myself \u2018Surrender,\u2019\u201d Nayyar told Fortune.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTake a breath. Take a pause. Let\u2019s just see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The practice is more than simply having a mindful moment. He\u2019s challenging his inner critic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur minds work in such a way where on a difficult day, it keeps going to the worst-case scenario,\u201d the actor explained, adding that the reality is rarely as bad as you imagine. And even in the very worst case, you always come out the other side. \u201cSo in those moments, you have to really just look at your mind and say, \u2018Stop. Take a breath. Surrender to this moment and let\u2019s see what happens.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Nayyar admits he uses the mantra \u201cquite often, to be honest.\u201d Especially after auditions, in between waiting to hear how he did, and trawling the internet to see if someone else got the job\u2014something any job seeker<\/a> can relate to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anything is in our control other than how we perceive things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The British-Indian actor has a string of ventures to his name, including Good Karma Productions and, most recently, the document-storage app IQ121. He\u2019s also still acting, most recently leading Christmas Karma\u2014and it\u2019s a career that keeps him relentlessly busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a regular nine-to-five job, so it\u2019s different. When I\u2019m shooting, then I\u2019m a slave to whatever my schedule is,\u201d Nayyar said. \u201cThose days can lead into 16-hour days, with six-hour turnarounds.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That means he might get only six hours of sleep and rest before the next call time. It\u2019s why even when he\u2019s off work, he sticks to a disciplined routine: \u201cOtherwise, it\u2019s easy to just sleep all day\u2014or not sleep all day, but relax all day\u2014because you\u2019re exhausted from shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

5:30 a.m.\u2014Wake up<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI do nothing for the first hour\u2014hour and a half,\u201d Nayyar explained. \u201cI have coffee. I sit on the patio, check my phone, maybe talk to the family. But I really do nothing. I don\u2019t get into work mode. I go to the gym, I come back, and I probably start my workday around 9:30 a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n

The afternoon\u2014Recharge time<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have the weirdest thing where I don\u2019t do anything in the afternoon. I need that time in the afternoon to recharge,\u201d Nayyar said. On days he\u2019s not filming, he\u2019ll take his last meeting at 2:30 p.m. and then rest from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. \u201cI try to do nothing,\u201d he added. \u201cIf I can take a nap, I\u2019ll take a nap. And then after 5 p.m. I\u2019m back on.\u201d<\/p>\n

On set, he\u2019s equally intentional about protecting his focus. Rather than scrolling between takes, Nayyar brings a book<\/a>, often choosing something his character might read to stay in the zone.<\/p>\n

5 p.m.<\/strong>\u2014Unwind<\/p>\n

In the evenings, if Nayyar isn\u2019t working he\u2019ll make time to see a friend. Instead of trying to squeeze time in their calendars, he\u2019ll just call them or invite them over for a cup of tea. Otherwise, you\u2019ll find him sitting on his patio: \u201cWith my dog, sitting in silence, maybe watching some sports\u2013I love watching golf, NFL, EFL. It really calms me.\u201d<\/p>\n

7:30 p.m.\u2014Dinner<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI like to have dinner during the week at home, no matter what.\u201d Does he cook for himself? No.<\/p>\n

9:45 p.m.\u2014\u201cI\u2019m in bed.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nayyar keeps a strict bedtime, with the aim to be asleep no later than 10:30 p.m.\u2014and he has a daily wind-down routine to make sure that happens. \u201cWhen I\u2019m lying in bed, I put my phone down, and right before I sleep, I just like to go completely quiet. I don\u2019t try to think about tomorrow or anything. Just go completely silent until I fall asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s CEO Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, and Melinda French Gates have mantras for when they\u2019re overwhelmed too<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just a Hollywood problem. Even the world\u2019s top leaders have shared that between messy return-to-office politics, scrambling to keep up with AI, and an unforgiving schedule, work gets too daunting for them, too, sometimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When that happens, billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates says she \u201creplays\u201d Warren Buffett\u2019s words of wisdom in her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember what he said to us originally, which is, \u2018You\u2019re working on the problems society left behind, and they left them behind for a reason.\u2019\u201d French Gates previously revealed in an interview<\/a> with the Wall Street Journal. \u201c\u2018They are hard, right? So don\u2019t be so tough on yourself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Amazon<\/a> founder, Jeff Bezos, takes a more aggressive approach by confronting the cause of his anxieties head-on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStress primarily comes from not taking action over something that you can have some control over,\u201d he said in an interview with the Academy of Achievement<\/a>. \u201cI find as soon as I identify it, and make the first phone call, or send off the first e-mail message\u2026The mere fact that we\u2019re addressing it dramatically reduces any stress that might come from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Google\u2019s CEO<\/a> repeats this mantra to himself when he\u2019s overwhelmed: Most decisions are inconsequential.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might appear very tough at the time. It may feel like a lot rides on it, [but] you look later and you realize it wasn\u2019t that consequential,\u201d Sundar Pichai said at Stanford\u2019s Business School. \u201cThere are few consequential decisions, and judgment is a big part of leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Essentially, most of us aren\u2019t surgeons saving lives at work. That font color or PowerPoint presentation you\u2019re worrying about probably won\u2019t matter in 10 years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

A version of this story originally published on\u00a0Fortune.com<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Jan. 15, 2026<\/p>\n

Read more executives\u2019 work-life balance routines from Fortune\u2019s Orianna Rosa Royle:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kunal Nayyar has a life most would describe as a dream. He landed his breakthrough role as Rajesh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[265],"tags":[86515,37072,434,277107,18,117,126987,525,1239,19,17,9791,53817,167,306,86514,3796,2396,128,14902,5660,25299],"class_list":["post-655336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-and-wellness","tag-billionaires","tag-celebrities","tag-day-in-the-life-of-a-ceo","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-evergreen-refresh","tag-fitness","tag-hollywood","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-melinda-french-gates","tag-mental-health","tag-millionaires","tag-personal-health","tag-productivity","tag-sundar-pichai","tag-tv","tag-well-being","tag-work-life-balance","tag-workplace-wellness"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117155282963801082","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}