Lost in the Margins: Why the Details Don't Matter Equally
- Rachel Amies
- 11 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Thought For The Week
Give us a simple solution to a problem and our instinct is to wonder whether it’s really enough. Surely there should be another step, another thing to consider, another way to make it better.
You see it in the simple project that gradually accumulates more features and more processes because the original version somehow feels too basic.
Or in the hours spent in meetings, going round in circles only to arrive back where you started.
There’s something strangely reassuring about complexity. It feels like thoroughness.
Perhaps that’s why we often assume that if one approach requires more thought or more effort than another, it must produce a better result.
Sometimes it does. Some problems are complicated and the details matter enormously.
But complexity also comes with a cost.
Every extra step requires some amount of additional time, effort, and attention. Which means this isn’t really about whether adding something could make the outcome better. It’s about whether it will make it better enough to justify the additional outlay.
Because the beautifully organised productivity system isn’t particularly useful if it leaves less time to actually do the work.
The hours spent going round in circles are hours we can’t spend elsewhere.
And so perhaps a useful skill we can develop is learning to recognise when complexity is worth the cost.
That doesn't mean always choosing the easiest option. Sometimes it just means understanding the details well enough to know which ones matter most, and which ones can be left behind.
Exercise Focus
Exercise gives us plenty of opportunities to get caught up in the details.
Which exercise is best?
How many reps?
How long should I rest?
How many times a week should I train?
There are answers to all of these questions. And if you're an elite athlete trying to squeeze the final few percent out of your performance, some of those answers might matter quite a lot.
But for most of us, most of the time, there are probably bigger things deserving our attention.
The perfect number of reps matters very little if the programme is so demanding you rarely complete it.
The relative merits of two different exercises probably matter less than whether you enjoy either of them enough to keep doing them.
And adding an extra training session might theoretically produce better results, but not if it leaves you tired, sore, and struggling to recover in time for the next one.
This doesn't mean the details don't matter. It means they don't all matter equally.
Unless you're training for elite performance, the margins probably aren't where most of your results are going to come from.
Instead, they're going to come from challenging your body in ways it can adapt to. From giving it enough time to recover. And, most importantly, from continuing to show up.
That's the 90%.
The details might help you refine the remaining 10%, but they're not much use if worrying about them means the other 90% doesn’t happen.
Get the big things working consistently before you start worrying about the small things.
Nutrition Focus
Nutrition might be one of the easiest places to lose sight of the big picture. There is always another detail we could be paying attention to.
How much protein am I eating?
Am I getting enough fibre?
How many different plant foods have I eaten this week?
Is that ultra-processed?
Should I be taking a supplement?
Individually, these can all be perfectly reasonable questions. The problem comes when we become so focused on them that we stop noticing what's happening elsewhere.
We can worry about the calories in breakfast while barely noticing the handfuls of food we pick at throughout the day.
We can feel virtuous about the salad we had for lunch while forgetting to eat another vegetable for the rest of the week.
We can carefully stick to a calorie target by barely eating all day, only to arrive at the evening so hungry that we eat far more than intended.
We can become so preoccupied with hitting our macros that we forget that food can actually be enjoyable.
Sometimes improving your nutrition isn't about finding another thing you could optimise. It's about recognising which thing deserves your attention most.
And so before adding another rule, restriction or target, take a look at the bigger picture. There may be something much simpler that would make a much bigger difference.
Explore More
From the archive: The Hidden Cost of Perfectionism: Why It Feels Helpful but Holds You Back explores another way we can find ourselves getting lost in the details, and how trying to do things properly adds more expectations and conditions to something that might otherwise have been quite simple.
Book: Essentialism by Greg McKeown explores what happens when we stop trying to do everything and become more discerning about where we put our time and energy. A useful reminder that knowing what to leave out can be just as valuable as knowing what to add.
Recipe: My Orange & Cranberry Bircher Muesli proves that good food doesn't need to be complicated. A handful of ingredients, a couple of minutes to throw together, and a delicious, healthy breakfast is ready and waiting for you in the fridge the next morning.
Takeaway
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