Nassim Nicholas Taleb shares a helpful rule in his book, Skin in the Game.
“Anything you do to optimize your work, cut some corners, or squeeze more ‘efficiency’ out of it (and out of your life) will eventually make you dislike it.”
Taleb summarised a feeling I’ve often had, but haven’t been able to articulate.
Last year I started doing stretching and mobility exercises each morning. It should take about 20 minutes, but when I tried to condense the exercises into 15 minutes, I felt sick of them after 2 weeks.
After reading this idea, though, I put no time limit on my next session. It took 27 minutes to get through all the stretches, but I felt amazing at the end of it. The slower pace allowed by body to get the most of of the exercises.
For the activities that we do for our mind, bodies, and the home, perhaps its worth trying to take the foot off the gas and move at a slightly slower pace. Maybe we’ll end up loving something that used to feel like a chore.