The key to a more productive life is to pace yourself

The useful part

Svoboda is an award-winning science writer and contributor to Scientific American, Psychology Today, and The Boston Globe. This means managing your energy deliberately rather than swinging between overwork and withdrawal. Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite—read by Svoboda herself—in the Next Big Idea app, or buy the book.

How it works

• Going all-out leads to a predictable crash, while prolonged withdrawal—while relaxing and sometimes necessary—doesn't give us the sense of contribution that studies show is key to lasting fulfillment.
• What top athletes and coaches understand is how to range across the broader middle of the pacing spectrum, an overlooked zone that fuels long-term thriving.
• Thriving over the long term depends on learning how to pace yourself.
• As one business leader told me, "We don't learn how to pace ourselves.
• Either we ought to "go 110%" or "lean in," or at the other extreme, "lie flat" or "quiet quit." But for most of us, these extreme options are falling short.

Details worth keeping

Pacing is a learnable skill that's integral to thriving.