From what I have read, it seems to me that the most successful people in any field are those who are able to consistently have deeply valuable bursts. They are not the people who slog away working 80 hour weeks for the sake of working more. Rather, they work long hours when it will produce the desired result. Cal Newport's Deep Work touches on this idea a lot, and I can see this idea echoed elsewhere.

It is not about doing more work, it is about doing better work more often. This meta skill seems to be almost more important than the "core" skill itself. For a given field, a competent person who can routinely "go deep" will likely have better results than someone who is better at the core skill. After a certain level, it is not about knowing more, but about being able to apply what you know more deeply and more often.

Happy Halloween!