I'm Jocelyn K. Gly, and this is Hurry Slowly, a podcast about pacing yourself,

where I explore how you can find more creativity and meaning in your daily work through the simple

act of slowing down. If you follow my work closely,

you may know that I am somewhat obsessed with a certain quotation from Clayton Christensen,

an expert on innovation. And the gist of it is that questions are what opens up space in your mind for an answer.

That if you don't ask the question, the answer has nowhere to go.

That you have to ask the question first in order to open up the space for the answer to flow in.

A few weeks ago, a student in my new course Reset asked me a great question.

What productivity systems have you tried that didn't work and why?

My immediate thought was all of them.

I don't like systems and I don't like systems, and I don't like systems because systems rely on rules.

And the problem with rules is that they break down in the face of complexity,

and in the face of rapid technological change,

and in the face of all of us just being weird,

idiosyncratic humans who have specific quirks and rhythms and needs, more useful than a set of

rules that come from the outside is a set of principles that come from the inside. And I think that this distinction

between rules and principles is fundamental to developing a functional understanding of how to be

productive in a world of rapid change. So let's talk about the difference between rules and principles. Rules are a

narrowly circumscribed set of actions for how you can accomplish a certain thing. They are

prescribed for you by an external party. They are rigid and typically there is a penalty if you break them.

Principles are broadly defined values or ideas that you believe in that govern your behavior

and actions. They are deeply held convictions that come from an internal place.

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