The Problem with Optimizing Your Life
A reflection on self-improvement, toxic productivity, and why obsessively optimizing your life can make you miserable instead of fulfilled.
Something to Keep
“Anything you do to optimize your work, cut some corners, or squeeze more ‘efficiency’ out of it (and out of your life) will eventually make you dislike it.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb - Skin in the Game
A Second Look
When I first got into self-development, I bought into the idea that life is something to optimize. I was obsessively tracking metrics, hacking routines, and chasing maximum efficiency. Needless to say, this had the opposite effect. Instead of leading to calm, it led to stress because I turned life into a joyless project of over-optimization.
Life isn’t something to manage; it’s something to experience, even if you’re not perfect at it. Imagine planning for perfection and then something messy and unexpected happens? What a humbling moment that is. That’s what I like about life. You think you have everything figured out because you read a bunch of books or watched a bunch of videos, but then something happens that teaches you a lesson and puts you in your place.
The best you can do is be present, define your values, and embrace imperfection. Think about it, the best experiences you can go through are imperfect (falling in love, raising children, or being friends with someone). And if you’re looking for productivity advice, just find what you love and actually do it.
Something I Liked
In a recent video, Matt D’Avella talks at length about the risks of optimizing your life. And he’d know since he did all those experiments a while back. Like him, I’ve been disillusioned with self-development content.
I think most books in the genre are worthless and teach you toxic advice that tells you you’re special (you’re not) and that you deserve special treatment (you don’t). Have you ever seen someone having a meltdown at a coffee shop because their latte isn’t the one they ordered?
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” Plato wrote over 1,500 years ago. That’s a nice way of saying: “don’t be a dick”.