Last time, I said something that can feel unsettling if you’re used to thinking your way through problems:
Insight has limits.
Not because it’s shallow; but because it was never meant to carry behaviour over time.
That usually raises the next question:
“So what actually works instead?”
Most people answer that with effort.
They say things like:
“I need to be more disciplined.”
“I just have to stick with it.”
“I need to try harder this time.”
But effort is a terrible long-term strategy for smart people.
Not because you’re incapable; but because effort keeps you trapped in decision mode.
Every day you’re asking:
Should I do this today?
Is this still important?
Do I have the energy right now?
Am I doing it the right way?
That’s not a motivation problem.
That’s a design problem.
Implementation isn’t about pushing yourself forward.
It’s about reducing the number of decisions you have to make.
Think about the things in your life that do run consistently:
brushing your teeth
checking your email
showing up to work
opening the same apps without thinking
Those don’t happen because you re-commit every morning.
They happen because the decision was made once, and then embedded into structure.
This is the shift most people miss:
Consistency doesn’t come from force.
It comes from defaults.
When something has a place, a time, and a path, it stops competing for attention.
When it doesn’t, it has to be re-justified every day. And eventually, it loses.
This is why trying harder feels exhausting.
You’re spending energy deciding, not doing.
And the quieter cost is this:
Even when you care deeply about something, it starts to feel heavy. Because nothing is holding it in place for you.
Implementation, done well, should feel like relief.
Like fewer choices.
Like less self-negotiation.
Like continuity without constant vigilance.
You get to set it and forget it.
That’s what design does.
It lets thinking step aside once it has done its job.
Next time, I’ll make this more concrete and show what design actually looks like when you apply it to something real. Not as a productivity trick, but as a way of protecting your attention and energy.
— Greg