Consistency is better than intensity

Consistency is far more important than intensity. Intensity is the fast burn. It’s fun when we have the intensity, but when our energy fades, the season of drought is painful.

Imagine for a moment that you have a very intense day and you get 100% of your planned work done. Then you have a letdown and only get 5% of your desired work done for the remaining five days of that week. That is a completion rate of 20.83%. You’ve left nearly 80% of your work undone.

Now imagine that you have a casual and consistent series of days where you only get 50% of your desired work done, but you can maintain that pace for six days. Obviously, this means you get 50% of your weekly work finished.

Intensity is fun when it’s happening, but it’s all-or-nothing and it’s very exhausting. Consistency requires self-discipline, but you end up having easier days of work that result in much more productive weeks.

Spoiler: by targeting consistency, you also end up developing discipline and stamina. We can develop the skills to complete 80-100% of our desired work.

Consistency is better than intensity.