Process optimization isn't always worth it
2023-09-21
Especially within the productivity and self-optimization community it is very uncommon to acknowledge that something isn't worth improving upon. Nevertheless, I'm hear to tell you exactly that based on some findings I and countless others have made. So, let's take a look at where process optimization is worth it and where it isn't...
Generally, it indeed is a good approach to find repetitive tasks or ones that don't feel like a good use of your time and try to make them more effective/less time intense . However, there are at least two things to keep in mind while doing so. First of all, the amount of time saved by an optimization has to be several times larger than the time invested into the optimization itself in the medium term - this means that it isn't worth it to improve a task that occours frequently but only requires very little time or one that only arises once every few months but takes a longer time, when you would spend countless hours in the process of improving it. Secondly, it is important to think about how many others might already have stumbled across this exact problem and try to outsource the optimization to someone else by researching oline or buying a product for example, if it is viable.
Personally, I like to differentiate between a tool and a project in these situations. A tool needs to do a certain job as efficiently as possible, I don't care about how exactly it works as along as it does and it is fine for it to cost money as long as it safes me more. Projects on the other hand also need to fulfil a certain task and ultimately make my life easier, but they are mostly about the fun and deep diving into an interesting topic - they don't need to be the most economicly viable solution. Unfortunately, their nature makes them a terrible choice for situations where it is solely about the money (like in your day job) and this indirectly also disqualifies process optimizations at work that aren't available commercially and would require your effort to realize them.
Ali Abdaal even extends this idea with his concept of fake and real work . Real work is everything that actually matters, which for a business means to directly drive sales or for a student to directly influence his marks - this could be lowering the production costs or spending more time learning the subjects you aren't superb at. Fake work though is everything that only feels like it matters, which is mostly due to its indirect and therefore hard to quantify effects - this could be a pretty website for a business or nicely color-coded notes for a student. They sure are nice to have, but aren't things to focus on and certainly not ones to spend precious resources (time or money) on optimizing them.
Overall, I want you to understand that the hard part isn't being more productive while working (for which there is little room in most cases), but focussing on the work that actually is important . This is what makes some people not only reach, but exceed their goals, what allows them to be multiple times more productive than the average dude and ultimately might make a difference to humanity by creating something truely revolutionary. With that said, have a great week and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments down below...