Discipline · 1 min read
Quantity Beats Quality: Frequency, Not Time
Standardize before you optimize. Quantity carries you through the bad work to the good. Automating a habit depends on frequency, so count reps, not days.
Standardize before you optimize. Quantity carries you through the bad work to the good work.
- The experiment from the book: the most outstanding photos all came from the “quantity group.” They spent a whole semester shooting. They tried different compositions and lighting. They learned from mistakes. The “quality group” sat theorizing about perfection and ended up with a pile of theory and one mediocre shot.
- But read the environment: some places (companies demanding 100% correctness) do not reward constant mistakes in the open. So iterate the skill privately with “recoverable” experiments, then show up brilliant.
Count Reps, Not Days
Automating a habit depends on frequency, not time.
- The right question is not “how long,” it is “how many reps” until the new habit runs itself.
- Rather than fixating on “how many days to build a habit,” find ways to “get more reps in.” The smaller the start, the easier the reps (see The Two-Minute Rule).
Do not ask how many days, ask how many reps. Get enough reps and the quality grows on its own.
References: Atomic Habits, James Clear
Related: back to the whole-book map. Or read The Two-Minute Rule, Pick the Right Field: Win by Being Different, and Reflection and the Rigidity Trap.