The over-optimization trap.
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The internet is obsessed with optimization.
Wake up at 4:47 AM. Take a cold shower for exactly 3 minutes. Drink a full glass of water. Drink coffee at peak cortisol hours. Journal in your productivity app. Optimize your email workflow down to the second. Shoes on. High-intensity interval training completed.
A machine-like life.
No time to enjoy your coffee. No time to look around at the world around you. No time for relaxing on the couch with your partner. You’ve got shit to do!
Silly.
Online gurus sell the idea that success is found in a life of micro-optimizations. That greatness lies inside these perfectly calibrated routines.
I know people who have spent more time optimizing their writing system than actually writing. Who have done more research on productivity than actually learning how to use that information to be productive. Who tweaks their morning routine more than they execute it.
They're so busy optimizing that they forgot to actually do something meaningful.
The most successful people I know aren't micro-optimizers. They're decisive doers who know that most optimizations don't matter.
They know that choosing the perfect productivity app won't make you productive. That finding the ideal writing routine won't make you a great writer. And that the perfect morning routine won’t make you successful.
Routines are wonderful. I’ve built them. I have them. But consistently working on your routine isn’t what matters. What matters is that you start. And keep going.
I have several friends who have built 7-figure businesses using Gmail and Google Docs. They don’t have a fancy CRM. No optimized workflow. No automated sales systems. They are simply excellent at what they do, have become well-known because of it, and consistently execute on the fundamentals to find more customers.
When I asked them about optimization, I’ve heard some form of this statement from each of them:
"I'd rather be 50% efficient at 100% of what matters than 100% efficient at 50% of what matters."
I’m not suggesting you become sloppy. Or don’t figure out ways to be more efficient. I’m telling you that not everything needs optimization. In fact, most things don't.
I’ve never seen a business fail because its email workflow isn't perfect. It fails because it doesn’t solve real problems for real customers. Your writing career won’t stall because you haven't found the ideal writing software. It stalls because you're not writing enough.
Optimization is productivity in disguise. It feels like you’re making progress. But it's often just rocking-horse syndrome: it feels like you're moving forward, but in reality, you're going nowhere
Instead of obsessing over the perfect system, tool, or routine, focus on the most important few things that move the needle. Doing the thing you’re supposed to do. Generating revenue. Improving customer satisfaction.
If you get the big things mostly right, you'll outperform the optimizers every time.
People sell you on optimization because optimization feels easier than doing the fundamentals. It’s why “hacks” and “tricks” on the internet go viral, but learning how to brand and position your business won’t. It’s too long. Too hard. The suckers won’t buy that. Let’s ship ‘em some tricks.
So close the optimization YouTube videos you have open right now. Put down the productivity books. Stop fine-tuning systems that don't actually need any tuning.
Just start the work.
Do it imperfectly. Messily. Now.
You’ll likely find that optimization, especially over-optimization, was never really necessary in the first place.
What’s your take on today’s topic? Do you agree, disagree, or is there something I missed?
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I'd rather be 50% efficient at 100% of what matters than 100% efficient at 50% of what matters.
This should be on a poster!
I love this so much! As a recovering perfectionist and master procrastinator, I've learnt that motion and imperfect action beats minute optimisation any day. My mantra these days is progress over perfection!!