When to do more vs When to do BETTER

"Brainy What-Why-How"

Your weekly nibble of science-backed goodness to help you move better and feel unstoppable.

🧠

What (the TL:DR)

Understanding when you're maximising vs optimising* can completely change how you use your time and energy. 

Let's look at how the same person can act so differently in situations like:

  • work

  • grocery shopping

  • learning handstand

(The magic is knowing when to use which one.)

Why (the geeky neurology)

You're in maximiser mode when you go for volume:

  • clear out your inbox: read, write a good enough reply, next. 

  • grocery store missing something from your list: get something else close enough. move on.

  • kick up to handstand over and over without really adjusting anything.

You're in optimiser mode when you go for precision:

  • rewriting the same email 6 times and still not sending it

  • going to three different shops to find the exact right thing

  • setting up carefully for your handstand so each attempt actually teaches you something.

Underneath it all, here's what's happening:

1️⃣ Your brain is trying to keep you safe: 

Overthinking, analysing, trying to get things just right: that's often your system saying "If this isn't perfect, I might not be able to handle what happens next." 

It's protective. 

But it's also exhausting. 

2️⃣ But in movement and learning...

Your nervous system learns in two main ways:

  • Repetition ➡️ builds familiarity

  • but without the attention that our prefrontal cortex provides ➡️ we miss the accuracy, and build bad habits

If you only maximise, you may reinforce mistakes. If you only optimise, you may burn energy that could used elsewhere. 

How (apply it to your life) 

🧠 In life, lean towards maximising. 

Most things don't need that much of you. 

For example, I realised I'd become a hardcore "optimiser" with social media. 

Every negative comment, every drop in engagement, every post that didn't land... I overanalysed it all. To the point where I was posting maybe once a month. 

Meanwhile I had ideas. Useful ones! Things that I knew could help people. 

So I shifted:

More posting. Less overthinking.
More sharing. Less perfecting. 

Because honestly, not everything needs to be your best work. Some things just need to exist. 

🧠 In skill creation, like handstands, lean towards optimising. 

This is where precision matters. 

Not 50 chaotic kick ups. But:

  • fewer kick ups

  • but more intention per attempt

  • time to pause, reflect, and adjust 

You're not just building strength; you're teaching your brain what "correct" feels like. 

Your nervous system learns what you repeat—but it also learns what you pay attention to.

So, it's not about choosing one or the other. 

It's about asking: does this need more reps? Or more care? 

Adell 💋 

*if you go googling this, the academic psychology world will tell you the terms kinda sorta the other way around (maximisers = perfectionists, and "satisficers" = good-enough-and-move-on-people.) Same root idea -- I'm just using it in a more practical, real-life way here.

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