📝 Words: 1,320 | 🕰️ Estimated Reading time: about 6 mins
TL;DR
📖 I read an interesting book - “Effortless: Make it Easier to do what Matters Most” by Gregg McKeown. Now I have to update my 2024 reading list.
🧊 Steady progress vs. exhausting sprints - “hard work = better results” is true, but only to a certain extent: the story of Norwegian vs. British South Pole expeditions.
🧠 Thoughtful Productivity calls for intentional strategies to prioritize well-being, without sacrificing productivity and feeling like a robot.
Life is a combination of waves 🏄🌊
There are times to push hard (and I lived these many times), and times to rest (I’m experiencing one right now).
In my tireless research for equilibrium (as the Latin phrase goes “in medio stat virtus”, i.e. "virtue lies in moderation"), I find myself in need of a more balanced approach in life.
And one valuable approach I found is from “Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most” by Gregg McKeown.
Most of us would agree that hard work is a virtue.
Sometimes, the only way to get to the “next level” in anything is through long hours, effort and many sacrifices. And I’m a firm believer that this kind of mindset leads to success, much more often than the opposite.
The equation is “hard work = better results”, but this is true to a certain point.
There is a limit to how much time and effort we can invest without starting to deplete ourselves and see the return on that effort diminishing.
As McKeown writes in the book:
“Getting to the next level doesn’t have to mean chronic exhaustion. Making a contribution doesn’t have to come at the expense of your mental and physical health. When the essentials become too hard to handle, you can either give up on them or you can find an easier way.”
So, is there an easier way to do things? A way that enables progress towards personal and professional goals while avoiding burnout?
Well, after reading the book I can really think of two ways:
Pace
Thoughtful Productivity
The first way comes directly from chapter 10 of the book, while the second - Thoughtful Productivity - comes directly from my own experience.
Ultimately, both ways depend exclusively on us to work.
And the two ways can be jointly leveraged to get a magical combination 🪄
🚶Pace: slow is smooth and smooth is fast 🚶
One of the key things we can do to be able to slow down while making significant progress is to look at the pace (i.e rhythm, speed, tempo) we’re doing things.
When you go slow, things are smoother, and when things are smooth, you can move faster.
A lot of “insecure overachievers” actually make their progress slower (without even realizing it) by pushing themselves to the absolute limit and beyond.
How do I know? I have been guilty of this many times.
I was pulling all-nighters for work and feeling exhausted afterwards. My manager on the contrary - telling me to slow down - was effortlessly delivering key presentations while taking a walk🚶.
I was driving myself to the absolute max and beyond, while he was progressing to his own steady pace. And there is a great story to explain this.
🧊 In the 1920s the most sought-after goal in the world was to reach the South Pole.
It had never been done before in human history, and two rival expeditions wanted to be the first to do it: Norway 🇳🇴 vs. Great Britain 🇬🇧
🏁 They began within days of each other a 2,400-kilometer race against time.
🇬🇧 The British team decided to go to the absolute max, the furthest they can go in a day, every day.
☀️ On the good weather days, Captain Scott would drive his team to exhaustion.
🌨️ On bad weather days they would stay in their tents and complain in their journals.
They thought this was the fastest way to reach the South Pole.
However, what they learned was a complete different story.
On the good days, they maxed out. But on the bad days, they were exhausted and felt the psychological burden of not making any progress at all.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Norwegian team 🇳🇴 decided they were going 15 miles (i.e. 24 km) on good weather days, and 15 miles on bad weather days.
No more, no less.
What happened?
The Norwegian team progressed every day “without particular effort1” and got to the South Pole more than 30 days faster than the British team.
The spirit to live by: don’t do more today than you can completely recover from by tomorrow.
Because the costs of the “boom-and-bust” approach are high.
We feel exhausted on the days we sprint hard, depleted and demoralized on the days we rest, and we end up like those British explorers, feeling broken and no closer to achieving our goal.
🔑 So what is the key to this “effortless progress”?
Establish upper and lower bounds
Follow this rule: never less than X, never more than Y.
Example 💻: finish that client presentation
Lower bound: never less than one slide per day
Upper bound: never more than 3 slide per day
Example 📚: read Proust’s In Search of Lost Time
Lower bound: never less than 5 pages per day
Upper bound: never more than 20 pages per day
Example ☃️: reach the South Pole
Lower bound: never less than 15 miles per day
Upper bound: never more than 15 miles per day
And while hard work remains key for success, it's crucial to recognize that relentless hustle at the expense of our well-being is not the only path forward.
Steady progress can be achieved without burning out, and embracing a balanced approach to work and life is not a sign of laziness, but rather a sign of a very mature and productive mind.
🧠 Thoughtful Productivity 🧠
Back to my experience, I recognized I had to do something to improve my unhealthy habit of working long hours without getting improved outcomes.
So I got a deep interest in productivity methods, and with a bit of time, I experimented with a series of tips that helped me find a better balance.
Now I was able to get the same results (often better) and accomplish more (cause I had rested well the night before).
While I remain open to the occasional all-nighter in urgent situations, it's now a decision driven by necessity rather than my previous imbalanced approach.
And that makes al the difference.
I call this “thoughtful productivity”, because there’s a deep thinking behind it (my thinking, of course).
💡 The thinking behind: the tips I am using are the ones that make me feel good with being more productive while not making me feel like a robot 🤖.
You might have heard those productivity experts telling you to wake up at 4AM, do cold plunges for 45 minutes, workout for 60 minutes and then get in the sauna.
For them such routines may be feasible, as they often operate as entrepreneurs with the possibility of structuring their own schedules, not to mention their easy access to amenities like saunas, gyms, and cold plunge tubs.
In the end, the point is not to be perfect, but rather feeling at peace with ourselves and a bit closer to our goals and where we want to be.
I’m sharing the list of tips here ⬇️ (in a Google Sheet ❤️), hoping these could help you like they helped me.
I also gave each tip a rating (1 to 5 ⭐).
And while this is a score to keep track of how I felt about it, it does not mean that my 1-star tip cannot be a 5-star tip for you.
Hope this helps.
See you next Sunday 🗓️
Thanks,
Giacomo
These words were used by the biographer of the Norwegian expedition.
What a great post and important theme on everyone’s minds. I’m definitely going to check out this book! I have a great focus right now about ways to produce revenue with greater simplicity and agility. It seems harder than it needs to be and I think it comes down to better collaboration in addition to productivity etc. There is an African Proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.’ I’m on a mission to make this the mantra for revenue teams
I do believe in “hard work,” but try to think about WHERE to divert that hard work towards.
Which could be working hard at:
- resting
- slowing down
- getting bored
- having fun
- being a great parent
- being healthier
- living a multidimensional life
(and the “hard work” may look different; e.g. sitting down and doing nothing is VERY HARD)
Where your ambition lies, if it’s broad or narrow, can clarify where you’ll work hard.