Every few weeks my internet speed degrades.
The solution to getting the speeds back to normal that has proven reliable is simply restarting the router.
There’s a variety of reasons why this works: memory gets cleared, connections get reset, the router has a chance to cool down etc.
When your performance degrades and you find yourself dragging your feet through a problem, I think you can take a cue from this.
Walk away — literally. Even for just 5 minutes so you can undergo your own form of resetting.
Yesterday I spent an hour working on a problem, making little progress in that time. After taking a quick walk, I solved it within 5 minutes of returning to my desk.
If your work has some component of knowledge work, the great thing about that is time and sheer effort are not necessarily going to be the strongest correlates to doing great work.
Instead, there are other intangible and arguably more important factors like how rested you are and how clear your mind feels.
What all this translates to: the more you take care of yourself, the better your work will probably be and… the more efficiently you’ll probably get it done.
