Maximally efficient is minimally robust.
principles to abide by
People assume it’s easier for more senior people to get offers, but it’s actually the opposite. The more senior you get, the longer it can take to get a new job.
You are much more expensive, so companies are extra cautious hiring you. And it’s just common sense that there is an order of magnitude fewer managers than there are individual contributors. And many (most?) companies have a bias to promoting internally.
Macroeconomics is economics plus psychology. Broader trends in the economy have elements of human behavior affecting them.
If you see cloudy skies, and the weather reports suggest “maybe hurricane, maybe not”, and your neighbors are boarding up their windows, you might be driven to action as well.
you should eat more vegetables and less processed meat, like your doctors have been telling you. But with some extra attacks on expertise and science, which I’m sure will be helpful in further eroding our civilization.
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I believe that being busy is a myth. It’s one that we all fall prey to and end up accomplishing nothing because of it.
Like any system, you need enough slack. That slack makes you resilient over the long term. It gives you what you value in life. Autonomy, relatedness, and competence to whatever you set your goals towards.
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The Seven Levels of Busy
Level 1: NOT BUSY My schedule is wide open. I can choose infinite paths. Zero commitments. The weekend. I sleep like a baby. Life is good, but am I living my best life?
Level 2: STUFF TO DO I have a few commitments wandering around my brain. They are reasonable, knowable, and not deadline-based. I can keep track of everything in my head.
Level 3: SIGNIFICANT COMMITMENTS I have enough commitments that I need to keep track of them in a tool because I can no longer organically triage. My calendar is a thing I check infrequently, but I do check it to remind myself of the flavor of this particular day.
Level 4: AT CAPACITY My to-do and my calendar are full. I frequently have to make “What is more important?” decisions to help me figure out where to invest my time. There is no unscheduled time, but I continue to feel on top of things. Inbox zero maintained.
Level 5: CRACKS IN THE FACADE I tell myself I’m on top of all the things, but there are early signs of excessive work. This is when Inbox Zero fails. I know daily surprises could be avoided if I had… just a bit more time. I start saying “I’m sorry” a lot. Stuff isn’t getting dropped, but execution becomes sloppy.
Level 6: CRUSHING COMMITMENTS The incoming amount of things are beyond my ability to triage them. Change is constant. Just saying “No” to inbound things is not enough. Stuff is falling on the floor, and I’m not noticing. Work hours spill into life hours. Tired.
Level 7: UNSUSTAINABLE I live minute to minute. Eating and other necessities are shoved in-between things, but eating and other necessities are frequently neglected. To-do lists do not help me here because I do not have time to maintain them. My calendar changes from hour to hour. It is clear by how I walk how busy I am. I get a lot of unintentional “He’s screwed” looks. Zero work-life balance. This is not sustainable.