One definition of efficiency is the ratio of output to input.  It occurred to me the other day that there was a huge shift in my efficiency between college and getting a job.  Not efficiency in terms of how much stuff I accomplished, but efficiency in terms of output vs. input, whether it involved time, money, happiness, stress, energy, etc. 

I worked hard in college.  I inputted tons of time, immeasurable stress, incalculable energy, unfathomable amounts of money (mostly not my own), and sacrificed much in terms of happiness, peace, and rest.  But the results were comparatively minimal, consisting of simple numerical estimations of my mental grasp of specific topics.  Sometimes those numbers would be high, sometimes low.  There was certainly no correlation between input and output.  But I can easily say that the overall efficiency of the system (school) was much less than 1.  In other words, I put in way more than I got out.  Sure I got a degree, which enabled me to get a job, etc., etc., but still, it was a very inefficient process. 

During and after college, I had a few jobs.  Sometimes the jobs were boring and slow, sometimes fast and mildly stressful.  But the output was different:  I got paid money instead of grades.  Money can buy you health, happiness, and love, and don't let anyone tell you different (but you shouldn't depend on it for those things).  Even when I wasn't making much money, the output was still significantly greater than the input, making the efficiency much greater than 1.  And even after working for a few years and becoming cynical about money and work and life, the efficiency of working is still unbelievably greater than the efficiency of going to school. 

I remember talking to a woman at church when I was in college, and when I told her I was a student, she told me how much she wished she was back in college with no worries and no responsibilities, since life after college is full of stress and work and problems.  It was a Sunday evening, which meant I had just spent several hours doing schoolwork, and I'd quickly leave church after the service and continuing doing schoolwork until the wee hours of the morning.  I remember thinking that I couldn't imagine work ever being harder than school.  And so far, it hasn't been.  As long as the efficiency is greater than 1, it's all good. #education