5.3 Why the 10th Slice of Pizza Isn’t as Good as the First - The Law of Diminishing Returns
More is better… until it isn’t. The law of diminishing returns explains why you should stop before you ruin a good thing!
Imagine your favorite candy. The first piece: amazing. The second: still good. The tenth piece in a row: you feel a bit sick. This is a yummy way to feel the law of diminishing returns in action. It's a principle that says as you keep adding more of something, the benefit you get from each extra piece gets smaller and smaller, and eventually might even turn negative (too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing).
What is the Law of Diminishing Returns?
In plain terms, diminishing returns means each additional unit of something gives you less benefit than the unit before. At the start, more is great. But after a certain point, more brings less joy, less improvement, or less productivity than before. If you push it too far, you can even start hurting your results.
Think: the first hour of studying is super productive, the next hour is okay, the fifth hour and your brain is mush - that's diminishing returns.
Real-Life Law of Diminishing Returns Examples
Studying & Homework: The first 30 minutes studying for a test, you learn a lot. The second 30 minutes, you still learn, but your focus might wane a bit, so you get slightly less out of it. By hour three of straight studying, you're reading the same sentence five times and not absorbing it. Each hour gives you less learning than the previous one. It's often smarter to take breaks and come back fresh than to do a 6-hour marathon. That way you reset and avoid hitting the wall where more studying doesn't help much.
Video Games or Netflix Binges: Playing your new game is super fun... for the first couple of hours. But after a long binge, you might notice you're not enjoying it as much, or you're playing out of habit. Maybe your eyes hurt or you're getting bored of doing the same quests. That's diminishing returns on fun. Similarly, one episode of a show is enjoyable, and maybe two or three in a row is a blast, but after five episodes, you might feel kind of zoned out. The additional happiness from each extra episode drops off.
Practicing a Skill: If you're learning guitar, practicing 30 minutes a day consistently is awesome. If one day you decide to practice 3 hours straight, the first hour might be great progress, the second hour your fingers hurt and you're slower, the third hour you're barely improving because you're exhausted. You'd actually be better stopping earlier and coming back tomorrow. The improvement gained from each extra hour shrinks as you get tired and lose focus.
Eating & Drinking: Back to that pizza or candy. One slice = delicious. Two = you're nicely full. Three = getting stuffed. Four = now you feel bloated. The enjoyment per slice clearly went down, and by slice four you're possibly regretting it. Or think of a soda on a hot day: first few sips, ahh refreshing. Chug the whole large soda, and now you feel icky. Your satisfaction per sip diminished as you overdid it.
The key is to recognize that past a certain point, "more" doesn't equal the same level of better. It's why quality often beats sheer quantity.
Challenge: Find Your Point of "Enough"
This week, your challenge is to notice diminishing returns in your own life:
Pick an activity and be mindful as you do it for a period of time (studying, gaming, practicing, eating snacks, etc.).
Pay attention to when you start feeling less benefit or enjoyment. Can you identify the point where adding more time or quantity isn't helping much? Jot down when that happens.
Experiment with stopping at that point next time. See if taking a break or switching tasks once you hit diminishing returns makes you feel better or get more out of your time.