Hi guys! This is Max, the author of this Productivity newsletter.
I regularly research and share some of the best insights on how to be productive and achieve more.
Today I wanted to share a framework that can support long-term success in any area of our life. It’s called Consistency over Intensity.
Problem: I’ll start with a problem. Lack of consistency is one of the worst enemies of progress.
I can speak from my personal experience: there are plenty of things I’ve abandoned at some point in time. These could be: learning a new language, boxing class attendance, building a project, etc.
All of these were started by me and abandoned due to some reason.
- Sometimes I felt that I can’t keep doing it due to the complexity
- Sometimes it was a simple lack of willpower
- Sometimes it was a distraction from something else
The last time I felt the empty feeling of giving up a good habit 2 weeks ago – when I missed writing a newsletter issue for this blog. I did it because I had to switch some focus to another project of mine – and it sucked my time.
As a result, I missed not just one – but 2 weeks in a row, which made me doubt whether I can keep up with my habit of writing.
Framework: Consistency over intensity
I started thinking about the best possible way to get back to writing a newsletter again.
I was looking for something that would help me to restart my habit. I decided to do some tweaks and start an experiment.
My assumption is: making the newsletter issues shorter and writing them on a daily basis will help me to stick with the habit.
Experiment: I will write less, but more
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I plan to write shorter issues (compared to my weekly newsletters in the past). However, it’s going to be published more often (daily), instead of weekly.
Why should it help?
First, I’m going to feel less internal resistance to writing smaller tips. Second, I’ll do this with a 7x higher frequency.
Last – but not least – I hope this practice will provide more value to you and the other hundreds of readers of this newsletter. That’s the highest motivation to keep going writing.
How can it help you?
The framework of doing less – but more often – can be applied to any goal in your life.
- Want to start exercising? Do 30 push-ups every day, instead of going to the gym for 1 hour twice a week
- Want to learn a new language? Learn 20 new words daily, instead of attending online classes from time to time
- Want to start blogging? You got it – instead of one big post once in a week/month/year – write a small note every day
The key idea is to achieve the perfect consistency while making the activity easier (and possibly – do less, than you expect).
That’s it for today. I wish you stay productive and achieve more. More productivity ideas, frameworks, and experiment results are coming soon. Stay tuned
Regards,
Max
I started this blog as an attempt to improve my writing skills and to establish a proper writing routine. I share notes and tips about productivity, products and routines. I believe that this blog will keep me accountable and (hopefully) will help someone else too.