Hard work and hard to do work

The difference between hard work and hard to do work.
A friend from college posted an article he found in a blog. It's about a research done to compare how elite players and average players carry out their daily lives- that includes practice time! For full reading, click here.
So I pluck out a section of it which is really interesting.

... that there’s a difference between hard work and hard to do work:

• Hard work is deliberate practice. It’s not fun while you’re doing it, but you don’t have to do too much of it in any one day (the elite players spent, on average, 3.5 hours per day engaged in deliberate practice, broken into two sessions). It also provides you measurable progress in a skill, which generates a strong sense of contentment and motivation. Therefore, although hard work is hard, it’s not draining and it can fit nicely into a relaxed and enjoyable day.
• Hard to do work, by contrast, is draining. It has you running around all day in a state of false busyness that leaves you, like the average players from the Berlin study, feeling tired and stressed. It also, as we just learned, has very little to do with real accomplishment.

This analysis leads to an important conclusion. Whether you’re a student or well along in your career, if your goal is to build a remarkable life, then busyness and exhaustion should be your enemy. If you’re chronically stressed and up late working, you’re doing something wrong. You’re the average players from the Universität der Künste — not the elite. You’ve built a life around hard to do work, not hard work.

The solution suggested by this research, as well as my own, is as simple as it is startling: Do less. But do what you do with complete and hard focus. Then when you’re done be done, and go enjoy the rest of the day.

So, always remain calm and don't get ourselves busy unnecessarily, doing unnecessary work and stressed out at the end of the day (worse, it's not even the end of the day yet and we're already sweating heavily). Have enough sleep and... practice!! Like consistently, even if we don't see the results yet. When practicing, practice well, even though it's a (boring) technical exercise, well at least try to make it fun (that's what I always tell myself hahah). I like the conclusion : "Do less. But do what you do with complete and hard focus. Then when you're done be done, and go enjoy the rest of the day. "
And yes, after practice, it will generate a strong sense of contentment and motivation.

:D