The Counterintuitive Way to Be More Effective in Your Work

If you’re struggling with getting things done, its possible you have too much to do and need to clear your plate. It’s also possible that your load is too light and that you really need a heavier load.

In a recent kettlebell workshop I attended, I was struggling to coordinate the timing of the technique. The result was needing to put in a lot more muscle effort into the movement, in a way that was hurting my shoulder and wouldn’t be sustainable.

The coach suggested I try the movement with a heavier kettlebell.

Initially, this made little sense to me.

If I couldn’t get the technique down with a lighter weight, how would using a heavier weight make things better?

The coach explained that a heavier weight wouldn’t allow me to cheat the way I was cheating with the lighter weight.

He said that if I tried to cheat in the same way using a heavier weight, the kettlebell would get stuck in the middle of the movement — which is what happened.

According to the coach, working with a heavier weight would force me to use to the proper technique.

That’s what happened — at least on one side. The other side is still struggling with coordination. It’s all a work in progress.

One the coach explained the rationale, it made sense to me.

I immediately thought about when I first learned to deadlift; it was easier for me to understand the concept of bracing my core with some weight on the bar. Having a load on the bar that feels slightly challenging forces me to focus more on technique.

Think about it: if you’re picking up a small object from the floor, you’re likely not thinking about hinging and bracing techniques. In fact, it would be overkill for your nervous system if you did.

But if you’re picking up a heavy barbell, you’re going to pay attention to your technique.

This principle applies in numerous places beyond the gym.

For example:

• If you have a place you’ve committed to be in the morning and a time when you need to be there, you’re less likely to hit snooze in the morning.
• If you have a packed schedule, you’ll be more intentional with how you use your pockets of free time.
• You’re likely more cautious when making a big investment — like buying a house — than when buying a pair of shoes.
• People tend to show up more fully for a program when their investment in that program is a stretch for them as opposed to when it doesn’t feel like a big investment.

A Heavy Load Can Help You Create Good Techniques

This also comes into play when developing systems and structures for your life and work.

Sometimes you need a heavy load to create or learn the right technique.

When I first started in business as a real estate broker, I spent a lot of time developing systems for onboarding clients and deal flow. Then I got busy and those systems failed, requiring me to develop new systems.

On the other hand, the systems I developed under the stress of need held up much better because they responded to actual demands instead of imagined demands.

Constraints are secret weapon to creativity.

If you’re not feeling as productive as you want to be, sometimes the reason is that you don’t have enough to do.

It may be counter-intuitive, but having more responsibilities can help sharpen your focus and force you to decide what’s truly important.

The Flip Side: When the Load is Too Heavy

That said, there’s a line here.

If the load is too heavy, it could lead to compensation patterns and prevent you from honing to the right technique.

There’s an adage that “if you want something done, ask a busy person.” That is true to a point.

A person who has a full load can often find efficiencies to get something done. But if the load is too heavy, taking one one more thing might cause an entire system crash.

In a similar way, systems we create under emergencies — simply to “get it done” — are rarely sustainable or scaleable. We might cut corners or overcompensate just to get it done.

We can only carry so much.

Finding the Sweet Spot

The trick is to find the sweet spot where the “load” is heavy enough to force you to execute or create good systems and techniques, but not so heavy that you cut corners or compensate just to get something done — or collapse under the weight of the load.

Finding that sweet spot is the daily experiment.