Nov 27, 2007
It occurred to me yesterday that productivity is inversely proportional to time spent. More accurately, productivity decreases exponentially with time. In terms of math, productivity is a measure of task completion versus time spent. For example, if I have a task to complete that has a measurable point of completion (e.g. starting at point A and moving to point B), the more time I spend on the task, the less productive I am.
![[Image: productivity.png]](http://ddhr.org/img/productivity.png)
Let's say I work on a project for two hours, and I don't reach my point of completion. My productivity is exactly zero during this time period. Sure I may have completed smaller portions of the project, and my productivity for each of those portions might be high. But in the larger picture, I haven't completed the overall task, which means I haven't reached the goal of finishing the project, which means I haven't yet been productive.
Now let's say I work for 15 minutes later in the day and I complete my project. My productivity during this time period is four (1 task divided by 0.25 hours) (a relatively arbitrary value, but a value no less), which, no matter how you look at it, is way more than zero.
The bottom line here is that the more time you spend on something, the less productive you'll be. This just adds fuel to the "waiting till last minute" fire: If you wait until the last minute to do something, it'll only take a minute. #business
Now let's say I work for 15 minutes later in the day and I complete my project. My productivity during this time period is four (1 task divided by 0.25 hours) (a relatively arbitrary value, but a value no less), which, no matter how you look at it, is way more than zero.
The bottom line here is that the more time you spend on something, the less productive you'll be. This just adds fuel to the "waiting till last minute" fire: If you wait until the last minute to do something, it'll only take a minute. #business
But there's a chance you'll accomplish more in life than just one thing, so that needs to be taken into account. For example, if you complete one task in one hour, your productivity (according to my graph) is 1/1 = 1. If you accomplish 10 things in one hour, your productivity is 10/1 = 10. So it's either (a) an early death or (b) lots of accomplishments.
Me: That's great, but this morning, I put on 2 socks and it only took me 10 seconds. Keep up the good work though and in no time you might be as productive as me.
I like this. Without assigning value to given "projects" you can impress so many people: