I really enjoyed this post about morning routines and how to work efficiently. The author makes a great point that knowledge work isn’t fit for an 8 hour consistent work day. The killer line is below:
For best results: Spend 20% of your energy on your work and 80% of your energy on recovery and self-improvement. When you’re getting high-quality recovery, you’re growing. When you’re continually honing your mental-model, the quality and impact of your work continually increase. This is what psychologists call, “Deliberate Practice.” It’s not about doing more, but better training. It’s about being strategic and results-focused, not busyness-focused.
The smartest people I’ve known haven’t looked like they’re busy; it’s often a purposeful clearing of the calendar so that they have time to think about the best way to approach a problem. It’s the type of thinking I try to strive for in my daily life, and hopefully manage to hit with some success.