Being efficient is doing things right; being effective is doing the right things.
Peter Drucker
Effort only matters if it’s applied to the right things.
If we’re not focused with our actions, it’s easy to waste our time and energy on things that feel impactful but don’t move us forward in a meaningful way.
Optimizing wastes our time in a uniquely insidious way, it makes us feel good and earns us praise, but it doesn’t make us any better. Building an elaborate task management system is fun and challenging, but it doesn’t help us complete the tasks on our list. The basics are boring but impactful and optimizing is fun but inconsequential.
Building an elaborate training plan and buying new sneakers are way more fun than waking up early to run in the rain, but they still make us feel like we’re making making meaningful progress as a runner. Rather than focusing our efforts on the difficult and boring work of building foundational skills we’re often caught in a cycle of chasing fun but ultimately useless optimizations.
Optimizing before we master the basics is like polishing a car without an engine. It might look great sitting in the driveway, but it can’t accomplish the only thing that matters.
We want results but we chase dopamine
Professionals shouldn’t build elaborate workflows or AI agents to automate their work before they master the work themselves.
Golfers shouldn’t waste time and money on expensive club fittings and new technology before they learn to strike the ball correctly.
Authors shouldn’t obsess over marketing, formatting, and cover art before they sit down and write a book.
Avoiding seed oils isn’t going to change anything if we’re eating cookies and candy all day.
How we exercise doesn’t matter until we do it consistently.
If we step back to think about becoming better in the context of worthwhile pursuits like our careers, families, exercise, or hobbies, it’s obvious consistent effort directed at mastering the basics is the only way to achieve the results we want.
But in the busyness of everyday life, the bigger picture fades away and the temptation of spending our time on something that provides a quick hit of dopamine outweighs the often boring and grueling work required to make meaningful progress. We end up getting stuck in the same spot because we’re spending all of our time trying to run before we’ve learned to crawl or walk.
Optimizing a broken system gives us the feeling of making progress without the results.
Earn the right to optimize
Rather than viewing optimization as just another piece of any worthwhile pursuit alongside the foundational actions that progress us forward, we should treat optimization as a reward for ourselves once we’ve mastered the basics.
Before we go down the rabbit hole of endless optimization we need an unshakeable foundation of skills and expertise.
It doesn’t matter how elaborate or elegant our optimizations are if we’re not capable of the basics that move the needle.
Once we’re consistently making meaningful progress towards a worthwhile pursuit, then we can begin to optimize our process, strategy, and systems to make more meaningful progress.
If we treat optimization as a reward for mastery then we can ensure our efforts aren’t wasted.
Prompts
What optimizations are you focused on that are wasting your time?
What are the foundational actions you need to take every day to move the needle forward on what matters most?
What fun optimizations can you use as a reward for hitting your next big milestone?
Deep Dive
Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf
A story about falling in love with the process.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin