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What is Administrative Efficiency? : eu4
Main Post: What is Administrative Efficiency? : eu4
How do I become more efficient? : r/productivity
Main Post: How do I become more efficient? : r/productivity
What are some good general principles for efficiency in everyday life?
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For example: "Keeping your things tidy and organised will make you more efficient by reducing the amount of time you need to spend searching for an item you need".
I'm looking for more "management" orientated ideas than the "psychological hacks" that are often popular here.
Top Comment: The "rule of two" is pretty good, if you think about something, like "i should put that plate away" and it would take less than two minutes, just do it immediately
Are some people inherently more efficient?
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I'm struggling to ascertain exactly why some people are so organised and efficient, when it seems impossible for me.
Granted I suffer from CPTSD which has expressed itself in the form of social anxiety and depression, this wrecked my twenties.
Regardless I feel like even if I didn't have those mental health issues, I wouldn't be like those super efficient people.
Is there just something genetic that sets them apart or do you think it's mostly learned?
Top Comment:
Brain chemicals, life stage, and obligations are different for everyone. I used to wonder but I don’t care why anymore, I just figure out what works for me and practice practice practice. The skills I learned growing up worked for that life stage and that level of obligations. Doesn’t work so great now. I’ll find something that works for a while and then I might try something else. I know people hate tiktok and pinterest but I’ve found some good info there (like anything, watch out for junk advice, but then again, if it works for you go for it!). This guy @connodewolfe on tiktok has figured out how his brain works and he’s saved me a lot of time and validated many of my feelings. Good luck. Go easy on yourself. Whatever you need is what YOU need. Take care of YOU.
Everyday efficiency in day to day life
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Whenever I run into some small amounts of free time I tend to waste it. For example, when in line or waiting for something, I tend to go on reddit or play Hearthstone. What’s something productive I could be doing with a minimal amount of time? I was thinking of things along the lines of pushups, browsing helpful articles, etc. However these might not be appropriate for all day to day situations. So what do you guys do and/or recommend?
Edit:grammar
Top Comment:
I have certain activities that I plan to do every single day, no excuses. For example, aside from my workout routine, I force myself to do at least 10 (modified) pushups a day & a 1 minute plank. It's not much, it adds up. I'm a beginner so it forces me to do just a little bit more. Setting up a schedule for the week & each day also helps. Have a to-do list and prioritize things that you must accomplish for the day. For example, if you're waiting around, you can get that phone call you have to make anyways out of the way.
what is the difference between "efficient" and "effective"?
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Hi all, as for the question above, I do not clearly understand when we should use "efficient" or "effective" and how come we differentiate them. I much appreciate if there is any example included.
Whether effective is reaching the projected goal, efficient is reaching this goal with the lowest cost ?
Warm regards.
Top Comment: Efficient means it was done correctly while saving time and/or money. Effective means something was useful. When something is effective, it provided a helpful service. (I’m not an English expert but this is my take)
Reddit Efficiency
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For those struggling with Reddit I highly recommend creating custom feeds with the subreddits that you like/think you need. Then make sure that when you go to Reddit you go to Reddit.com not reddit.com/r/all or anything like this.
In this way you can unjoin all subreddits, and when you go to Reddit your main screen will be virtually blank, then you intentionally go to the custom feed of your choice. One of the great parts of this is that then you can view all those subreddits in the same feed (e.g. sorting by new or whatever you like).
It creates a few barriers between you and mindless browsing and can make your experience more efficient and minimal. In this way, at least for me, I get the best parts of Reddit with less of the downside.
Top Comment: Posted by u/FullVinceMode - 16 votes and 2 comments
feeling punished for being more efficient?
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I work on a team of SAs and feel like my automation & scripting mindset paints me in a negative light. Unfortunately my jbo is an hourly job, and I have to account for my time. I've found that for some reason a lot of SAs out there don't have the mindset that if you have to do it twice, write a script. Or if it's terribly complex, write a script. I've always worked this way, but it seems that plenty don't.
So I find myself doing tasks that take others hours in minutes. That takes others days, I do it in hours. But now I'm left with a lot of free time on an hourly job. My only coping mechanism seems to be to life about how long tasks take. I worry that if they find out I spend a lot less time working than I really do my job will be at risk, but it's due to my own efficiency, not a lack of work ethic.
How do others deal with this?
Top Comment:
If your workplace punishes you for doing things quickly, it's not a place you want to be.
It reminds me of the quote, "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room." In other words, if you're not learning from anyone else, you need to find somewhere to go that you will be able to learn from others.
LPT: Efficiency and Productivity are for work-related tasks, computers and the economy, not your life. Slow. Down. You are worthy of your own time. Savour your mind.
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We have built a culture of urgency, and therefore anxiety, around our daily lives. Everything has to be more efficient. We must be more productive, or else we are not worthwhile. It has become a religion to outdo each other's forever exaggerated techniques for "optimising my performance." This has bled out of the corporate world, via sophisticated marketing strategies and social contagion, and into our daily lives, habits, and internal philosophies.
> Podcasts have to be listened to at 2x speed;
> We insist on multitasking while on the phone to our parents;
> We take our coffee to go.
We build evermore "productivity" into the way we consume the things we like. The faulty logic is if I do more things I like faster, I'll be happier. But this creates a complete disconnect from the actual satisfaction we could derive from these things, and forces us to run ever faster on the hedonic treadmill towards satiety. The more productive we are about our social, internal, emotional and intellectual lives, the less satisfied we are, and so the harder we feel we need to work to chase them. This creates a cycle of dissatisfaction. The dopamine hits can't come fast enough.
I implore you, for your own sanity, try the following things (even though the pandemic has made some of this harder, you can take away the core meaning of each one. Many of us are in lockdowns, working or studying from home, are no longer working, or businesses are closed for health reasons - some of these tips work even better under these circumstances, and we will appreciate the others more when we are able to access them):
- Don't get your next coffee takeaway. Sit down and turn your phone off and savour it out of a porcelain mug instead of a paper cup on your way to work. Leave a few minutes earlier, or arrive at work late. Watch the barista steaming your milk for you, filling your cup, making a little pattern on top and dusting it with chocolate - just for you. Watch the other customers talking amongst themselves. Study the tablecloths. Don't just drink your coffee, taste it. Life has lost all meaning if we can't sit down and enjoy coffee or tea or hot chocolate, but rather cram it into our bodies as a caffeine-injection system. If that's the only way you consume these beverages, you're missing the point. And if you can't get to a café these days? Make something yourself at home, for yourself, and even for someone you live with, and pay attention to every step. Pick which mug you want to use carefully. Measure the coffee. Do it slowly. And when it's ready, sip it and look out the window. Take in the complete act of what you're doing.
- Go to the pub with your friends, turn off your phones, and put them into somebody's backpack. Drink pints and talk shit. Repeat.
- Leave your house to go and walk. Do not plan a route or have a destination in mind. Walk, be conscious, and observe. You will need to come along with yourself. Get comfortable with that fact, and learn to love it.
- Literally stop and smell flowers.
- Try listening to podcasts at 1x speed and appreciating the level of technical effort that goes into producing a high-quality piece of audio journalism.
- Don't rush to finish your book by the end of December! If it's good enough for you to be reading it, read it slowly, and enjoy every single word the author crafted in just such a way as to convey their meaning to you. If you don't enjoy the book enough to read it slowly, stop reading it and start a new one. Life is too short to read books you don't like and won't remember anyway.
- Next time you feel thirsty, pull a glass of water from the tap and watch it fizz. Keep watching until the bubbles wrap themselves around each other and disintegrate on the surface. This water will become your lifeblood. Don't take it for granted. Taste the water until the glass is empty. Appreciate that glass of water and project a feeling of gratefulness onto it.
- Art is meant to be consumed slowly. Otherwise, why are you bothering?
- When was the last time you listened to music? No, no. I mean: when was the last time you listened to music?
- Whether you're on the phone to a friend, family member, secret lover or restauranteur, close your laptop and close your eyes. Give that person five minutes of your undivided attention. Let them feel how valuable you think their time is.
- Write a letter to your friend and post it instead of writing them a Facebook or WhatsApp message.
Efficiency and productivity are means to some ends and they have vastly improved our financial lives in many ways. But they are neither the means nor the ends to social, intellectual, creative or emotional satisfaction. You are worthy of your own time. Spend it with yourself savoringly.
Top Comment: It’s horrible but I loved this post and still sped through it.