The [Counterintuitive] Productive Process of Top Performers, Creators, and Sports Superstars

Each week you want to have some downtime. In every quarter you do want to take some time off, and this is the Twin Cycles of Elite Performance, which is the high-excellence cycle, and then the deep recovery cycle. The high excellence cycle, this is every day for five hours you are focused, you’re not distracted, you’ve got your Tight Bubble of Total Focus, you’re in a room that you’ve set up, or a workspace that is inspiring, and people can’t reach you and you do real work versus fake work, heavyweight work and masterwork versus trivial pursuits. And then you take the rest of the day off, and then every week you have a day off. And even on the weekends do not work. And then every quarter you take an entire week off. And so the twin cycles of elite performance is a formula to allow you to stay in the game, and absolute world-class as a performer, but also to enjoy the fruits of your labor.