The Golden Rule of Productivity

Marrying Consistency and Momentum

We often hear from renowned speakers and online gurus that consistency, not the volume of work produced, is what truly matters.

Experts often advise us not to overwhelm ourselves, but to produce a small amount of work consistently.

However, they also suggest that we should seize our peak productivity moments, leveraging our momentum to produce as much as possible.

Doesn’t this contradict the idea of consistency?

After all, leveraging our momentum often means working extended hours when we’re in the zone, then resting afterwards.

In this story, I’ll share my personal journey navigating this dilemma, and how I crafted a framework that harmonizes both principles, drawing from insights in best-selling books.

I used to grapple with the concept of consistency, often working on projects for extended hours, leveraging my momentum until completion or exhaustion.

I thought I was doing the right thing, using my ‘Big Mo’ as Robin Sharma suggests in ‘The 5 AM Club’.

However, I wasn’t happy.

I enjoyed the initial hours of working on my project, but pushing myself under the guise of leveraging momentum made it feel more like a job than a passion. That’s when I discovered what I call the ‘golden rule of productivity’: ‘Sharpen the Saw’, the…