Rest and the 10%
What if you could accomplish more by doing less? Have you ever considered that you might be wasting time by focusing on things that aren't important - things that take a long time to do but don't have a big impact? Those things are the 10%. The 10% is the hour you spend perfecting something that just need to be finished.
The strive for perfection isn't the problem. The problem is it often comes at the expense of rest. You spend all your time trying to finish that extra 10% so you run out of time to rest.
Here are 3 reasons not to sacrifice rest for the 10%:
1 | The 10% yields diminishing returns
At a certain point, the work you're doing isn't effective any more. Think about a big project you take on. At first, you make huge progress. You start by taking big steps. Over time those steps get smaller and smaller. You start working on the details. Eventually those details get so small that they start to barely push the needle forward. That's the 10% and it's in that balance that you start to see diminishing returns. That is: you can put in the same amount of work but you get less and less tangible results. That's when you need to stop and embrace rest.
2 | The 10% is only possible to achieve when you're rested
Not only is the 10% often unnecessary, it's impossible without rest. If you're constantly working for the last bit of perfection but never rest, you will never achieve the quality of work you want. Energy is currency. Eventually you spend all your energy and the only way to renew it is to rest. Interestingly enough, because of diminishing returns, the final 10% consumes more of your energy than the other 90%.
3 | The 10% leads to burnout, rest leads to longevity
You might finish a project or two. You might last a year or 5. But chasing the 10% leads to burnout. It's rest that leads to longevity. This is a marathon not a sprint. Pursue rest.
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