Leonid Mirsky

I am fascinated by the art of thinking. It is so exciting to realize that we can learn how to think better.
My latest discovery in that area is the concept of cognitive biases.

If you aren’t familiar with this concept, don’t worry, it is quite simple.
According to wikipedia, a cognitive bias is “the result of distortions in the human mind that always lead to the same pattern of poor judgment.”

Consider the following scenario:
Imagine that you just ordered a new and exciting gadget. It’s about time you will spoil yourself a bit, you have been working so hard in the last months.
You are filled with joy and excitement and just booked some precious time to play with your new toy.
However something unexpected happens: you play with it for 2,3 hours, and then you gradually lose the excitement.

The example above can serve as a good introduction to the impact bias. People tend to overestimate how long they will emotionally benefit from a specific event.
Maybe you wouldn’t buy the same product in the first place if you could better estimate it’s “enjoyment factor”.

However don’t worry, the most simple treatment is surprisingly the most effective: Awareness is the first and the most important step toward reducing the effects of cognitive biases on your decisions.

Next time you are cravings for this tasty chocolate, ask yourself, how much enjoyment it provided you the last time?

I just read a very insightful article by Steave Pavlina about the definition of productivity.
I love the mathematical approach when analyzing complex concepts, and this article does exactly that!

The basic definition of productivity is:
Productivity = Value / Time

Based on that formula, in order to increase your productivity, you have two options: increase value or decrease the time.
Most of the people I know concentrate on doing things faster, thus decreasing the time.
However there is another option, to increase the value, thus doing the most valuable tasks first.
Easier said than done, the catch is that without a clear definition of what value is, it is hard to realize a good prioritization system.

So let’s define value:
Value = Impact * Endurance * Essence * Volume
Impact: How many people will be directly and indirectly affected?
Endurance: For how long they will be affected?
Essence: How important it is for the affected people, is it essential, optional or undesirable?
Volume: How much value in time you will provide for them?

Now that we defined (with a great help from Steve) the components of value, we have a very powerful prioritization system.

The final equation is:
Productivity = Impact * Endurance * Essence * Volume / Time

If you look back on your lastly accomplished tasks, would you define their priority differently?