@ryolu_

**Ryo Lu** @ryolu\_ 2025-09-01 the 9-9-6 local maxima trap you can optimize for looking busy, hitting metrics, being “productive” – but you might be climbing the wrong hill entirely. real breakthroughs happen in the spaces between. when you’re walking and your mind wanders. when you sit with a problem long enough that the obvious solutions dissolve and something deeper emerges. when you have the luxury of thinking “what if we’re approaching this completely wrong?” my process is simple: i’ll open a Notion doc on my phone and just walk. sometimes for hours. the walking rhythm unlocks something – maybe it’s the bilateral movement, maybe it’s getting away from screens, but ideas start connecting in ways they never do at a desk. i’ll quickly jot stuff down as interesting thoughts pass. then i come back and just sit with the problem. draw some pictures, build it out a bit. no rushing to conclusions. no pressure to ship something by end of day. just... what is this, really? what can it connect to or evolve into? what would this look like if it were in its most beautiful configuration? once i see it clearly, execution becomes effortless. the focused bursts where you’re completely in flow – that’s when the real work happens. but you can’t force your way there. you have to earn it with the slow, patient thinking first. the irony is that this “inefficient” approach ships better stuff faster than grinding 12-hour days. but it requires believing that thinking time isn’t wasted time. that walking isn’t procrastination. that sometimes the most productive thing you can do is to not do. many teams don’t get this. they need to see keyboards clicking and meetings happening. but the best work – the stuff that actually moves the needle – happens in the flow moments when no one’s watching. > 2025-09-01 > > Anecdotally, I’ve found the people most vocal and showy about grinding hard (9-9-6) tend to have less throughput than a garden variety workaholic. > > I suspect this is because they’ve internalized endurance pace all the time. And loose the ability to sprint when needed. --- **Levan** @LevanKvirkvelia [2025-09-01](https://x.com/LevanKvirkvelia/status/1962530179156255032) you work so hard, you don't count work as work! --- **Ryo Lu** @ryolu\_ [2025-09-01](https://x.com/ryolu_/status/1962530968771903953) life is work work is life is where balance is --- **Miles Nash** @milesnash\_ [2025-09-01](https://x.com/milesnash_/status/1962530243492635061) [image] Nathan Helm-Burger @nathan84686947 · 3s Worth noting that walking with a colleague and chatting about work ideas can also be helpful. Like anecdotes of Kahneman and Tversky, Einstein and Gödel, or Feynman and Dyson.