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A simple math equation can transform your productivity

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Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#51

Post by c1505 »

This mentality seems like a recipe for procrastination. Yes it would great if I always could be at my optimal functioning for whatever task is at hand. This never happens and my brain tries to convince me that I am too tired, hungry, or whatever else before starting an important task.

On the very important areas of my life, it is much more helpful that I do something each day to try to make progress. On the busiest or hardest days, this might just be watching 5 minutes of a video on that topic. That keeps up my habit of doing something and makes it less likely that I will forget things.

If I am 100% productive at doing something that isn't important, the result on my life is no progress.

Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#52

Post by pjerem »

kvhdude wrote: post #46

i dont know about this. i cant get on the treadmill/elliptical unless there is some soccer match or action film streaming on the tv.... I could focus on the pain of doing exercise but that seems to be counter productive...

I think it depends on your goals. If what you want is achieve better movement, you’d better turn off that TV.

But if you just want to burn fat, well I’m not sure that focusing on it would change anything.

Proprioception is a nice thing to exercise, though.

Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#53

Post by deetz »

erwincoumans wrote: post #27

His math literally doesn't add up. If you multi-task you need to ADD multiple multiplications, one for each task. For example, if you perfectly divide all attention, time and effort in two tasks, you ideally get: 0.5 * 0.2 + 0.5 * 0.15 (given that the value of the first task is 0.2 and the value of the second task is 0.15) One important point is likely, that there is overhead in multitasking, so the actual formula be…

it makes sense if you read it as: I'm working at 80% of my capacity for 20% of the time, I get 16% of my possible productivity

Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#56

Post by BizarroLand »

erwincoumans wrote: post #27

His math literally doesn't add up. If you multi-task you need to ADD multiple multiplications, one for each task. For example, if you perfectly divide all attention, time and effort in two tasks, you ideally get: 0.5 * 0.2 + 0.5 * 0.15 (given that the value of the first task is 0.2 and the value of the second task is 0.15) One important point is likely, that there is overhead in multitasking, so the actual formula be…

Multitask repetitive or time consuming tasks only. When I was in college I worked for a mom and pop type PC repair store.

Doing PC re-imaging, I set up 6 stations and would kick off one refresh and while it was running, start up the next one and so on. Using disks to install took ages, so I figured out how to make bootable USB sticks, so I would have all 6 or occasionally more (by stealing bench seats) stations humming away while I was also doing part upgrades or builds on another station, only pausing to check up on progress.

That is ideal multitasking, where you need to pay a small amount of attention to one arduous group of tasks and the remainder of your time is free to focus on fine detail high mental demand tasks with ease.

Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#57

Post by ReleaseCandidat »

> If you multiply two numbers together, shouldn’t the result be greater than each part?

Well, it is. 0.16 is bigger than 0.2 and 0.8, because it has 3 digits instead of 2, and 16 is bigger than 2 and 8. (and 4/25 is obviously bigger than 1/5 and 4/5 too)

The problem actually is to (really) understand that the opposite is true. As soon as the denominators are different enough, we can't easily (just by looking at the numbers) compare two fractions like 26551/3690 and 26545/3689

Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#58

Post by MauranKilom »

axiosgunnar wrote: post #9

> Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned law professor > "If you multiply two numbers together, shouldn't the output be a larger number?" Glad this guy isn't building rockets anymore :-)

It gets better!

> and bestselling author

> Click here to download a free copy of his eBook

Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#59

Post by mynameisash »

dalmo3 wrote: post #26
jodrellblank wrote: post #21

> " When people meet a great leader, they often say, “She made me feel like I was the only person in the room.” Imagine giving that type of complete attention to everything you do—and making that thing the only thing in the room. " "Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes." ― Alan Watts. (In the sense that physically doing…

> Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes But if you're ascribing a higher meaning to the act is it still Zen? Maybe true Zen would be not even knowing it existed in the first place.

I never really considered myself a 'true' zen practitioner, but years ago I did regular zen retreats. It included sitting meditation, walking meditation, a mindful lunch with other practitioners, and... chores. (Maybe they used a different word - I don't recall.) One time I spent our ~hour washing dishes. Another time, sweeping the zendo.

The point of it, beyond contributing to the greater community, was to do these chores mindfully. There was no higher spirituality to it; just be present. When washing dishes, I was only focusing on washing, rinsing, drying, and putting them away. When sweeping, I was only sweeping the floor to collect dirt. When I collected the dirt, I was only collecting it. And so on. It sounds a bit silly, but it was a tremendous practice to force yourself to only do one thing and to think about that thing while you're doing it.

Re: A simple math equation can transform your productivity

#60

Post by LambdaTrain »

erwincoumans wrote: post #27

His math literally doesn't add up. If you multi-task you need to ADD multiple multiplications, one for each task. For example, if you perfectly divide all attention, time and effort in two tasks, you ideally get: 0.5 * 0.2 + 0.5 * 0.15 (given that the value of the first task is 0.2 and the value of the second task is 0.15) One important point is likely, that there is overhead in multitasking, so the actual formula be…

Right. It feels like Op uses wrong math but gets a good conclusion in the context of doing daily job: focus on one shit.

However, in general sense, the return of an investment is considered as random variable, so the problem is not just max value, but max value while minimizing risk, and the solution is multitask/portfolio

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