About

I was first introduced to the concept of effectiveness as being distinct from, and more desirable than, efficiency in a TED lecture by Timothy Ferriss.

A few weeks later, I was reading “The Not So Big Life” by Sarah Susanka and was surprised to find the same distinction made.

Both authors made the same basic point: that “efficiency” means doing something well, and “effectiveness” means doing something important well. A peek in the dictionary revealed to me a clearer distinction: to be effective means “to be successful in producing a desired result,” while efficiency is originally a technical term expressing a ratio of work accomplished to energy expended. In other words, efficiency isquantitative (how much work vs. how much energy – objective terms separate from discussions of purpose or meaning) while effectiveness is qualitative (was Isuccessful, and was the result desirable – subjective terms completely dependent on individual definitions of purpose and meaning).

Semantic discussions aside, it seems that greater effectiveness is a highly worthwhile goal, because it describes a state of being in which you are achieving whatever it is that you truly want. Clearly then, there are two processes that make up effectiveness: decision-making, through which you determine what it is you want and the tasks necessary to accomplish it; and our old friend efficiency, so that you can do the work necessary to complete those tasks with the most favorable work vs. energy ratio.

Through this blog, I share the results of my search for the most useful, meaningful, and time-effective techniques to improve effectiveness. I hope you enjoy it!

- Alex