How to be effective & efficient
A.k.a how to find time for what matters. Lessons and ideas from Richard Feynman, Soviet miners, president Eisenhower, and people who weren't Charles Bukowski and Jerry Seinfeld.
I was recently invited to speak to executive MBA students at the Stockholm School of Economics.1 The topic was mental models that support high performance and help manage high demands. It was a lot of fun, and together with two former classmates we covered topics ranging from cognitive behavioral therapy to inbox zero.
I focused on two things: why it’s worth spending time becoming effective and efficient, and how to do that.
I’ve summarized this ~20 minute read in three chapters:
I. Why bother becoming effective & efficient?
Life is beautiful. Richard Feynman expresses it elegantly.
I’m not saying that life is easily, or that it isn’t difficult and challenging. Things that matter, even in this age of surplus, do not come easy. But if you’re reading this text, then you’re most likely living in one of the best times that ever existed in human history. Looking to humanity’s future, things could of course get better, but looking to our past: most things have been a lot worse.
But life is short. Wait but why conveys it using this illustration of a human life in months:
Stop skimming this text for a moment, and find yourself in the picture above. Then look at how many circles you have left. Those circles are as powerful as they are simple and undeniable, simply because they visualize that life is short. That fact is easy and pleasant to ignore. And yes, at first glance this can seem daunting of even depressing.
But on second glance, I really believe this is a life-affirming visualization. By simply accepting it for what it is, and the speed with which one zooms through the rows, I believe one can motivate oneself to figure out what is meaningful and help one filling life with meaning.
I like the quote. I believe in the idea of purposefully filling one’s life with meaning and what one loves - but that requires that you first figure out what is important to you.
This is why it makes sense to be efficient and effective.
The tricky thing is how.
2. Do the right things (be effective)
2.1. Reflect regularly
If you’re spending time reading this text, you want to learn something or you’re at least curious. With that in mind, spend 15 seconds answering these two questions:
How often do you feel that you don’t have time for things that matter? Once a month? Several times every week? Every day?
Do you use social media? Or watch streaming services? How much time do you spend on those two things each week?
I’m based in Sweden. The average Swede spends 1 hour per day on social media, and 4 hours watching streaming services, TV, and Youtube.2
That may sound like a lot, but US teenagers are estimated to spend 4 hours per day on social media alone. The 5 daily hours that the average Swede spends on social and visual media adds up to 28% of the 18 non-sleeping hours of one’s day.
I like this example for a several reasons:
The numbers are counter-intuitive: most people don’t expect them to be so high. If you disagree, go to your phone’s settings and see how much time you spend on social media or streaming services. Did you over- or underestimate the amount of time you spend on that?
It reframes the problem: nine times out of ten the problem isn’t actually a lack of time, but rather an unseen and undesired misallocation of time.
It demonstrates the value of reflecting. By stepping back and asking awkward questions, you can get a better understanding of what is happening, and if you’re spending time on what you want to be spending time on.
To be clear - I don’t mean that people should stop using social media or watching Netflix.3 I just believe that being aware of what we spend time on allows one to make informed and better decisions.
This also applies to one’s profession or job. Filling the graph with what you do at work will force you reflect on whether you want to spend your life that.
So in brief, if you want to find more time for what is important - start by actively spending time figuring out what is important, what you’re currently doing, and how well those two are aligned.
2.2. Shape your utility curve
I believe that most people are as similar in fundamental needs (i.e., the lower levels of Maslow’s pyramid), as they are dissimilar in the more advanced needs. Imagine for a moment that each person has a unique function which defines their overall utility: f(total utility)= k₁(x)+k₂(y)+k₃(z)+…
Each constant defines an important activity/goal (e.g., k₁ = satiety, k₂ = love, k₃ = reading Emmetropia and so forth), and each variable (x, y, z, etc.) expresses exposure or success in reaching that goal.4 I believe that people have some kind of individual utility function and that it:
Changes over time. The coefficients change. Your preferences and their importance evolve. What you value now likely differs from what you valued 20 years ago.
Drives behavior. We do what feels important and will act in a way that we find activities which maximize our overall utility.
Is malleable: practicing curling or reading Terry Pratchett novels, for example, can over time affect one's utility curves. That person might also spend time watching curling championships, or enjoy dry sarcastic humor. In contrast, a management consultant who works 70 hours a week will learn to value office work and success higher than someone who has a vibrant extracurricular life. This is why I believe that individuals can, to some extent, form their own utility curves through exposure to different settings, norms and activities.
Creates path dependency. We all prefer to like ourselves and be right. Confirmation bias, historical atrocities, and interviews with people working in tobacco and gambling companies shows that humans can justify anything that we do.5 Anyone who has spent a decade working at a tobacco company will have adapted their utility function so that they feel good about what they’re doing. And more importantly, that will affect and constrain future decisions on what they spend their time on (a phenomenon called path dependency).
It’s important to reflect about the path dependency of utility function: the bridge between what one wants to spend time on and what one enjoys doing. If there’s misalignment (e.g. you viscerally love watching Love is blind on Netflix, but you intellectually want to write a book) you can ignore it, but then it will be difficult to change what you spend your time on. Or you can actively try to expose yourself to activities which will shape your utility function (e.g. signing up for writing classes or cancelling your Netflix account).
In other words: consider exposing yourself to contexts that will form your utility function to support the things you want to spend time on.
2.3. Prioritize
Once you know what you want to do, prioritize ruthlessly. These things help me:
Creating lists forces you to demarcate goals, activities, or preferences. The clearer they are to you, the easier they is to act upon.
Stack-ranking (i.e. list from most important to least important) forces you to think and decide on what is the most important for you.
Prioritizing is choosing what not to do.6 I like the Eisenhower matrix (below). In practice it ends up in two groups: a stack-ranked Do list, a non-urgent Plan backlog - and that I regularly clear out items from the list that have stopped being important (i.e. move to Delete).
Using the Pareto Principle: In 1906 Vilfredo Pareto published a book where he showed that around 80% of the land in the then Kingdom of Italy was owned by 20% of the population. This later became the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule: that for many outcomes, 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes.
This pattern recurs in natural phenomenon (birds, rainfall), healthcare (management of chronic conditions), software (fixing bugs) just to name a few - and I believe it’s highly relevant for how we spend our time. Think hard about what actually most impacts your life, and weigh that in when you prioritize.
If you do the above you will have started to figure out what you want to spend time on, and even made those things concrete and actionable. However, changing habits and priorities is difficult.
2.4. Use routines to change behavior
I find it useful to think in terms of cognitive bandwidth: there is a limit to how much attention we can spend every day. Changing one’s priorities and habits is challenging and demands attention. However, creating routines is one way to reduce the attention needed to make your future self act the way your current self wants. This is one way to strengthen your future self-continuity. If future self-continuity is new to you, spend 3 minutes on this essay by Brian Knutson and thank me later.
My favorite technique is Jerry Seinfeld’s eponymous “Don’t break the chain”, which Jerry (adhering to Stigler’s law of Eponymy) didn’t actually invent.7
As the (exaggerated and inaccurate) legend goes: Before Jerry was a successful comedian, he struggled to maintain focus, so he focused on creating a good joke every day. When he did that, he drew a big red cross on his calendar. The goal wasn’t to create good material, but rather to not break the chain of red Xs, thereby creating the right habit.
This offers an easy way to get short-term feedback by crossing something off a list, while also creating a visible representation of your progress towards achieving a long-term habit.
3. Do things right (be efficient)
There’s a reason why being effective comes after being efficient. You can run really quick in an orienteering race, but that won’t help you if you’re running in the wrong direction. If you don’t find meaning in what you’re doing I believe it’ll be more challenging to be efficient, so make sure you’ve figured out effectiveness before you work too much on efficiency. At the same time, you don’t want to overdo it.8
In 1935 Alexei Stakhanov, a Soviet Union coal miner, supposedly mined 102 tons of coal in less than 6 hours. This was 14 times his quota, which was unheard of at the time.
He quickly became a propaganda symbol and the foundation of the Soviet Stakhanovite movement, which promoted hard work and efficiency. This was in part pure propaganda, propelled by a authoritarian regime with little interest in truth or progress, but also in part due to new ways of increasing efficiency. A significant driver of his efficiency was his use of a mining drill, which at the time was a novel device that was difficult to use (weighing over 15 kgs), as well as new processes. I like this story as it’s a symbol of how novel technology, processes and hard work can let one reach new new levels of productivity. Even if the actual achievements most likely are inflated or false, the question it poses is a useful mental model: what can I do to increase my output by 14x?
Here are 5 things that have helped me answer that question.
3.1. Organize yourself
The human brain isn’t designed for how we use it today. Our working memory is limited. We can’t multitask effectively.9 We get tricked by supernormal stimuli.
It takes millennia for our brains to evolve. Fortunately, technology develops much quicker. If you want to handle a lot of information, analysis, and decisions, you need to make it easy for your brain to manage it. Three basic tools that are worth continuously perfecting:
To-do lists: The foundation for getting things done. Use a digital system to write down all important activities and keep nothing in your mind.10 This is the crucible where you will define and prioritize everything that needs to be done. Why be so stringent? I believe lists help you minimize cognitive bandwidth spent on remembering things as well as force you to scope and define activities, which facilitates focus. It’s also much easier to stack rank activities in a list and identify things that have stopped being important. Finally, it’s extremely satisfying to cross items off a list.11
Calendar: A to-do list for all time-bound activities. By always having everything in your calendar, you more easily create routines, and don’t need to spend any time or attention on remembering dates. Move time-bound activities from your to-do list to your calendar, and move non-time-bound to your to-do list. No overlap.
Inbox zero: If you email, use inbox zero. It reduces the time spent on emailing, makes it easier to focus, ensures that you don’t miss information, and frees up cognitive bandwidth. Here’s a simplified explanation.
The core idea is to control your inbox, rather than letting it control you. You can read more about it here or here.
Update: The valuable thing isn’t the specific flow above, but rather that you have a method which gives you clarity and control over the information coming your way. Advice from one of Emmetropia’s readers, who at times receives torrents of emails to her inbox:
One of the best things I’ve done is to NOT aim at inbox zero. I don’t do the no-branch of your illustration when reading email. I only catch the emails that need action, and leave the rest in the inbox without deleting or archiving anything. Once a year I bulk-archive the whole inbox. This has saved me a huge amount of time over the years, I rely on the search function if I need to go back to something and I don’t have to figure out how to organize and maintain an archive of things that I MAYBE need to look at in the future.
3.2. Get really good at focusing
The world is competing for your attention. Yes, a couple of million of developers have programmed addictive user interfaces, but at the end of the day, you decide where to focus your attention. There are a few strategies I’ve found to make focusing easier.
Reduce distractions
Turn off all notifications on your computer and phone - you decide when to check your messages, not the other way around. Have your phone on silent.
Schedule time for sorting out email.
Put your phone away when you don’t want to use it.
Unsubscribe from all email lists - you decide when you want to read up on a certain topic or web page, not the other way around
Tie yourself to the mast: if you struggle with reducing time on certain apps, use blockers like Anti-Social (Android) or Appblock (iOS), or apps that for example kill news feeds like News Feed Eradicator
Don’t multitask
We can’t multitask, so don’t try. At any given time be able to clearly define what it is you’re working on and when you’ll change to another task.
Recognize lack of focus
Everyone drifts out of focus now and then. Learn to recognize when that happens, and what works best for you to reset your mind and regain your focus on the task at hand.
Focusing is a muscle, not fuel
I believe that the cognitive ability to focus is more akin to a muscle, which can be trained, than to fuel, which is consumed through extensive use.
3.3. Accumulate micro-efficiencies
Pause again and answer these questions before continuing to read:
How much time do you spend in front of a computer every week?
How many years have you spent working in front of a computer?
I’m guessing that you, dear reader, probably spend at least a couple (if not eight) hours every day in front of a computer. One last question:
How much time have you spent becoming more efficient in using your computer?
I find it fascinating and surprising that talented people spend years working with computers, but spend virtually no time improving the efficiency with which they use computers. This is comparable to a lumberjack spending years on cutting down trees, but never spending any time on improving his technique or sharpening his axe.
This may feel nerdy, but ask yourself (a) how many hours you spend in front of a computer and (b) if you want to be an efficient or inefficient nerd. 🤓
I believe there are three levels of micro-efficiencies which can increase your effectiveness.
A. General computer usage
Hotkeys. If you’re not using these then start now: Windows key+numbers, Alt+tab, Ctrl+tab, Alt+F4, Ctrl+F, Ctrl+H, Ctrl+L, Ctrl+C/X/V, Windows + Shift +S, Ctrl+Z/Y, F2, Excel/powerpoint: F4! This saves time, and more importantly facilitates focus and flow. Check footnote for Chrome hotkeys.12
Don’t click around in folders to find a file; instead, use the operating system’s search function. In Windows, simply press the Windows button and start typing the file name.
Organize files that matter, but ignore those that don’t. It will save time in the long run.
Learn to touch type. It’s worth the time and there are good free resources to help you (e.g. TypingClub)
Learn to use large language models like ChatGPT. You will quickly notice its limitations, as well as how it can improve certain time-consuming tasks
B. General information gathering (email and browsing)
Use Chrome plugins to…
Reduce clicking on cookie notices: Consent-o-matic
Block ads: Adblocker
Enable quicker browsing: Vimium
Remove distracting start tab: Momentum
Use Chrome’s custom search bar field to quickly search specific sources
Use AI search engines to accelerate data collection: I like perplexity.ai
Use hotkeys for your email client
C. Domain specific
Depending on what work you do, there are probably larger effectiveness gains in becoming more proficient in using specific programs. You should be becoming increasingly effective if you’re continuously using a certain system. If you’re not 25% quicker after a year of using it, then you’re not spending enough time learning.
For example, if you’re…
Using Excel daily: learn hotkeys. They save a lot of time, and also make it easier to get into a state of flow, where your mind is a couple steps ahead of your fingers while they’re typing.13
Working clinically: learn hotkeys for the EHR.
Reading scientific articles: use the Chrome plugin Unpaywall to quickly find publicly available full versions of articles.
The key concept here is - spend time on figuring out what it is you actually spend time on, and then how you can become more efficient.
3.4. Overcommit - every day is gym day
Some years ago I read this quote and it resonated deeply with me.
“In general, I think it’s good to overcommit a little bit. I find that I generally get done what I take on, and if I have a little bit too much to do it makes me more efficient at everything, which is a way to train to avoid distractions (a great habit to build!). However, overcommitting a lot is disastrous.”14
I was surprised and happy to find that someone else had the same view that I had held for many years. This is overcommitting to yourself, which needn’t be overcommitting to external parties (e.g., work). Overcommitting isn’t about undertaking an unreasonable and impossible amount of tasks. Also, overcommitting to things that lack meaning, in other words without reflection & prioritization, is downright demotivating.
However, slightly overcommitting will force you to constantly become more effective. I see it like doing physical exercise in a gym. In a gym you constantly try to lift slightly heavier weights, you ensure that you’re working at your peak capacity, and getting as much as possible out of that gym session. And, just like the gym, it has to be ok to fail; otherwise, you’ll never dare to try lifting a heavier weight.
Instead of seeing each workday as simply a workday, see it as a opportunity to get slightly better at the things you do: reflecting, prioritizing, focusing and doing.
Emmetropes
Life is short compared to all the wonder that exists. Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now. Figure out what you love and fill your life with it.
Life is like orienteering: know where you’re running to before you head off and reassess regularly, especially in tricky terrain
Prioritize ruthlessly and consciously. Use the Pareto principle to find what really matters.
Every day is gym day: continuously reflect and spend time improving your daily tools and skills.
Overcommit to meaningful activities that will develop your efficiencies in the skills that you want to strengthen
Full disclosure: I’ve previously studied at the Stockholm School of Economics, founded their Life Science Alumni Network and serve on their Alumni Advisory Board. I’m quite proud that it’s one of the leading business schools in Europe.
Page 18 in this report: 15% of 413 minutes = ~1hour. Page 40: It’s a depressing graph, what can I say 🤷
However, I understand, but don’t agree with, the argument that binge-watching is a short-term hedonic trap: “70% of viewers in the US binge-watch five episodes, and 80% of millennials binge-watch six episodes at a time. Netflix users, on average, finish a season of their favorite shows in less than a week.” (Chang 2022). How different is a virtually endless repository of visual entertainment (i.e. Netflix) from Huxley’s Soma? Quite different, but I’d argue that the difference is diminishing over time.
If you have kids I'd recommend you to check out the fundamental kid utility function.
Interestingly, recurring justifications among tobacco, alcohol and gambling companies are 1. Neglecting that there’s a problem (e.g. harms are exaggerated or that there are underestimated benefits) 2. Social-washing (introducing a concurrent negligible reduction program) 3. Criticizing those that criticize them 4. Arguing that it’s the consumers/society’s free choice. If you find yourself using these arguments justifying what you do, then you should probably change your line of work.
Yes, a poor variation of Porter’s cliché, yet useful, definition of strategy: “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do”
“This is hilarious to me, that somehow I am getting credit for making an X on a calendar with the Seinfeld productivity program. It’s the dumbest non-idea that was not mine, but somehow I’m getting credit for it.” Seinfeld on Reddit
You can do two things at once, like type and listen, if what you’re listening to is less important - just keep in mind that you won’t be fully taking in what is being said. Again, don’t overdo it - you want to avoid being busy not bright.
I have an entirely unfounded belief - that due to an evolutionary quirk, some kind of exaptation, our limbic system (an older part of our brain) has a specific part of the brain which triggers when we tick a box or cross something off a list.
Chrome hotkeys:
Pronounced with a New York accent from a 1950’s noir movie: So you think you know Excel hot-keys?You may be good, but if you’re an actual proverbial “freak in the sheets” you should be able to directly understand what the following sequence does: alt+h,i,s; alt+h,o,r; emmetropia, enter; ctrl+a; alt+h+h; 1; +, up, plus, 1, ctrl+enter; ctrl+c; down arrow to row 20, ctrl+shift+up; ctrl+v. Alternatively check out the Excel World Championships.