Stop being efficient at being inefficient.
Let me explain.
If you randomly ask someone on the street if they enjoy monotonous tasks, you will most likely get this response, “Why are you talking to me?” or “Get away from me, you weirdo!” But in all seriousness, no one enjoys doing the same small task day in and day out unless it has a purpose. But there are so many things people do that could be done more efficiently, but they don’t take the time to take a step back and realize what they are doing.
I grew up playing a lot of baseball. It can sometimes be seen as the game of reps. The more reps you practice, the more likely you’ll be able to perform well on the field…right?
Wrong.
I’ll admit that if you field ten thousand ground balls in practice, you will probably figure out the best way to field a ball. But that “best way” is what you found works for you, and you may not have found that “best way” until the 6,567th rep. Now, let’s add a coach to the equation. After ten reps, the coach would be able to see what you are doing wrong and show you the best way. This would allow you to spend your time more effectively, thus making you perform even better in the upcoming game. The Grand Valley State University Varsity Baseball head coach, Jamie Detillion, put it best when he told all of us campers this:
“Forget what you have been told. Practice does NOT make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect.”
I don’t know about you, but this makes a heck of a lot of sense to me. Bad practice is just a waste of time. You can try and reconcile yourself by saying at least you’re out there trying, but at some point you have to transition into holding yourself accountable for how you do things not just what you do.
Baseball not your thing? Here’s a programming example.
A lot of you may be very familiar with the Automation vs. Manual curve. It describes the benefit of putting in effort up front to ensure a smooth ride down the road.
The graph clearly shows that for a duration of time at the beginning of a project there will be a definite increase of effort spent to write the code to automate some piece of software. This could deter some from taking the time to write the code. But as time goes on the, the graph begins to make the main idea clear: Early planning leads to an easier and happier life down the road. This is why so many software companies today are paying big money to automate their software and integration testing.
Still not convinced?
Any weightlifter would tell you that proper form can make or break a lift. You might be able to bench 225lbs for 5 reps, but if your form is horrible you really are not contributing to your overall strength. When your body starts straining during a lift, your body automagically begins to find a way to give you more of a mechanical advantage. This can be helpful, but usually results in injury. It is a bit of a reality check for people that think they can lift a lot of weight who then decide to use proper form and they can’t lift as much. The reality is: if they had planned ahead of time, they would have started with proper form and would be much stronger than they are now.
Okay, one more example.
I am currently taking a course on speed reading and super learning. (http://www.becomeasuperlearner.com) I won’t go into too many details, but the main gist of the course is that we all have been taught to read and learn incorrectly. It isn’t our fault, but it is up to us to fix ourselves. Leaving all the marketing gimmicks aside, I think he is on to something here. Let’s assume that this course does exactly what it says it can do. By the end I can read two books a week with 90% retention and can learn virtually anything in a month. Even if I only reaped 50% of those benefits, would it be worth it? Uhm..YES! My point is that putting in the time to complete the ten hour course is worth its potential to kickstart my learning in other areas.
Everyone wants the benefits of hard work in this life, but I know for a fact that not everyone wants to put in the initial effort to set themselves up for success. They keep eyeing the big prize in the sky, but never return their gaze to the road in front of them. Maybe if they had, they wouldn’t have needed to climb the treacherous mountain path toward their goal, and instead, they would have seen the elevator around the corner.
Sometimes the toughest roads cannot be avoided, but I think it is worth looking around for a minute to see if there is another, more efficient, way.
As always, God bless.
-Matt Conflitti
If you like what you read, then please let me know by hitting that ♥ button below. I love knowing what you and your friends think!
