Should We Chase Efficiency

The last few months I've been thinking a lot about the concept of efficiency.  Don't waste time.  What is the most efficient use of time?  Chasing efficiency.  What part of this procedure could I cut out to still get the desired results.  Cut the fat.

In some ways, I think this is a good filter to use, what is redundant.  Chasing after the efficiency idol is a slippery slope though, it can bleed into other areas of your life where efficient starts to mask the good stuff.  

Another word that can be used is optimization.  Optimize and efficient started to mean the same thing to me, and that I believe is a problem.  

Efficiency can produce (not always) fragility.  A hiccup comes up and your assembly line of well intentioned, perfectly timed dominoes fall.  Stressful.  For example, If I packed my schedule and one patient shows up late, my day will snowball late.  If I put a buffer of an open slot in there, (inefficient) I can withstand some late visits.  

There is all kinds of optimization for your sleep now.  In fact, I do quite a few of them.  Dark room, limit blue light, no caffeine after 4, take some magnesium, cooler room.  But, in a way, we are learning to rely on these things for a good nights sleep.  The first time you have to stay in a hotel that is different from your routine, can you sleep?  Before a big race? Perhaps there is some value in not optimizing all the time, even if it results in a few more tired days.

I rode my bike at a winter groomed trail today.  A lot of gear to be able to ride in a Michigan winter.  Between driving there and home, the packing and the gear retrieval it was a two hour commitment.  I rode for about an hour.  I could have literally walked into my basement and cycle on my trainer for two hours, and achieved a better workout.  It was an incredibly inefficient use of time.  

How do you measure being in nature, stumbling upon a herd of deer and chasing them on the trails.  Alone with your thoughts, not another human for an hour, like a private playground.   Snaking around a few corners and keeping the bike upright.  Chatting with one of your best friends in the parking lot.  These are all things that created a great experience and made for a wonderful use of time.  

What is fitness?  Getting more and more efficient at the task you ask to achieve.  Training is just biology adapting to the averages you stress it to.  The more you do something, the better, more efficient you get at it.  Performance is great, but perhaps training should have some inefficient tasks in there as well.   

The thoughts for this blog came into my head on the way home.  I had been thinking about efficiency and fragility for some time, but this seemed to cement them.  Don't chase. Evaluate. Don't let efficiency become your only filter.  You will miss out on art, life and the good things that it composes.