While it is important to “work smarter, not harder,” it interesting to note that people who do things, just go and do them. Dreamers and procrastinators sit around and make plans and talk about the best way of doing them.
Plans and optimization are important, but periods of decline in your work are probably characterized by overthinking and becoming too much of an intellectual about the things you do.
It makes me wonder if my productivity woes have been made worse by the books about productivity that I’ve read. Do the work and don’t think about it too much.
Being dedicated to discussion and debate (even if only within yourself) seems to destroy the power of action.