Productivity "Advice"

I was recently thinking about an apparent contradiction in productivity advice.

Focus on the big moments.

Don't collect nickels when you could find dollars. High-leverage beats high-volume. Let the small stuff go and trust that it won't matter.

Focus on the small things.

Details compound. Excellence is a habit. The people who seem to coast on talent are actually sweating the details you don't see.

Synthesis

So should I focus on the big or the small!? After some thinking, I see the two pieces of advice are solving different problems: resource allocation vs execution quality.

"Focus on big moments" is advice about resource allocation: where you direct your time and attention. Declining three meeting invites to protect time for deep work—that's big-moment thinking applied to resource allocation. Choosing which path to take.

"Sweat the small things" is advice about execution quality: how you perform once you've decided where to show up. Spending an extra hour preparing for a key presentation, anticipating questions—that's small-moment thinking applied to execution. Moving purposefully down the chosen path.

The trouble comes from misapplication. Analytical types tend toward applying rigor to decisions that don't deserve it, optimizing trivia. Action-oriented types tend toward always chasing the next big thing, never building the reputation that compounds.

Resource Allocation Execution Quality
Small-moment thinking ❌ Perpetual busyness that feels productive but doesn't compound—obsessing over formatting a report no one will read ✅ Preparing meticulously for a key presentation
Big-moment thinking ✅ Declining meetings to protect time for priorities ❌ Sloppiness in moments that count—landing the meeting but winging it

Takeaway

Ruthless selectivity about where you show up, relentless standards for how you show up once you're there. Simple to state and hard to implement. The work is knowing when to zoom out and when to zoom in.