The idea of a “minimum effective dose” (popularized by T. Ferriss) is a useful mental model. It works especially well when applied to fitness and diet. Also for work hours.

What’s the minimum you need to do to get the results you need? More doesn’t always equal more. More sometimes equals less. There are such things as over-training, over-hydration, over-eating, over-working, etc.

At what point is the law of diminishing returns reached? And how much further should you go once you reach that point? Those are the questions to ask. Because the name of the game is efficiency, not hard work. The hard work of being mindful is the real hard work.