How to Know When to Do More of Less or Less of More
I have always struggled with this conundrum. Should I do more of less or less of more. Whether this question applied to my startup ventures, my workout routine, or to my kids playing sports, it’s often hard to decide the best option without hindsight lending a hand. However, once you have hindsight it’s too late.
Today as I was pondering my experiences grappling with this dilemma, I think I may have come up with a simple rule of thumb.
When to Do Less of More
If the activity is about gaining experience and/or just having fun, then it’s better to do less of more. For example, if you are on vacation and have the option to spend all day doing one activity or multiple activities I believe the latter is a better use of time. Specifically in the case when you are a novice or first timer in the activities.
If you choose the one activity and it turns out not to be worth it, you lose your entire day with nothing to show for it. On the other hand, by doing multiple activities you avoid this possibility and gain a variety of experiences.
When to Do More of Less
If the activity is about winning and/or mastery, then it’s better to do more of less. For example, the vast majority of college athletes only play one sport even if they are capable of doing more. What’s more, if that one sport has multiple positions, college athletes only play one position even if they could excel at other positions.
When you decide to do more of less, you already have a specific understanding of your goals and what you are sacrificing by eliminating the other options. This understanding is what allows you to know exactly what specific thing you need to do more of and what other things you need to do less of.
What Comes First
The fact that you need a deep understanding of your goals and what you must sacrifice implies process. The process is that first you must gain experience before you can decide to do more of less.
Therefore, the rule of thumb is that you must first do less of more, before you can make an informed decision to do more of less.