The Perfect Work Routine

Don’t worry about finding the perfect system. It doesn’t exist. Start walking, experiment occasionally, and reinforce the paths that work for you.

In pursuit of the ideal work style, I think the best we can do is start with as green a quad as possible, then let the paths carve themselves over time. As we see what routines and styles are most resonant, we can reinforce them through technology, routine, or simply remembering what works well for us.

To the extent stories of others’ routines are useful, it’s only to sample them for bits and pieces of what we may want to try applying to our own path. We should not expect to find the perfect answer to work and life in someone else’s structure. Rather, we should find a bit of stone, a bridge, or perhaps a nice planter, that we can borrow to see if... See more

When the path we’re on isn’t working, the solution isn’t necessarily to find some new slab of concrete to jump to. But rather look at where we want to go and start walking. Someone else’s system or routine might work for getting them where they want to go, but it’s unlikely you’re headed in the exact same direction.