Sam Altman Blog Note #2: Productivity

A small productivity gain, compounded over 50 years, is worth a lot. So it’s worth figuring out how to optimize productivity. If you get 10% more done and 1% better every day compared to someone else, the compounded difference is massive.

Picking the right thing to work on is the most important element of productivity and usually almost ignored.

I’ve learned that I can’t be very productive working on things I don’t care about or don’t like. So I just try not to put myself in a position where I have to do them (by delegating, avoiding, or something else). Stuff that you don’t like is a painful drag on morale and momentum.

Try to be around smart, productive, happy, and positive people that don’t belittle your ambitions. I love being around people who push me and inspire me to be better. To the degree you able to, avoid the opposite kind of people — the cost of letting them take up your mental cycles is horrific.

Prioritization

My system has three key pillars: “Make sure to get the important shit done”, “Don’t waste time on stupid shit”, and “make a lot of lists”.

I highly recommend using lists. I make lists of what I want to accomplish each year, each month, and each day. Lists are very focusing, and they help me with multitasking because I don’t have to keep as much in my head.

Be ruthless about saying no to stuff and doing non-critical things in the quickest way possible.

I am relentless about getting my most important projects done — I’ve found that if I really want something to happen and I push hard enough, it usually happens.

The right goal is to allocate your year optimally, not your day.