Accomplish more by doing less (2007)

https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2007/10/10/the-einstein-principle-accomplish-more-by-doing-less/

by LordNibbler • 4 years ago

91 59 4 years ago

labrador• 4 years ago

The Einstein Principle

Einstein’s push for general relativity highlights an important reality about accomplishment. We are most productive when we focus on a very small number of projects on which we can devote a large amount of attention

borroka3• 4 years ago

All Cal Newport's advice is pretty mundane and, frankly, feels almost exploitative these days. "Let's give those distracted folks some old-as-sin observation, but packaged as new", it looks like he is saying.

Deep Work = find a place with no distraction and work for a few hours with real focus.

Einstein Principle = focus on a few things.

Is there anyone in the world who thinks that in order to achieve excellent results (unprecedented, surprising, miraculous) from research and similar intellectual endeavors, it is better to divide attention and focus among many "projects"? I don't think so.

In other professions, better results would be accomplished by diffusing attention (think of the Director or VP level in large tech companies, which are the companies I know the most about).

jb1991• 4 years ago

I just looked over the "time block planner" of his. At first I though, neat idea, then I realized, it's just ruled lines, a one-dollar notebook will accomplish the same thing.

jacquesm• 4 years ago

And let's throw in a name with high recognition value as a way to both validate the concept and attract more eyeballs. It's an argument from authority if there ever was one.

aahortwwy• 4 years ago

Most people read these things because it feels good to read them, not because it provides any lasting benefit.

It makes sense that these productivity entertainment books include the simplest, least controversial ideas only. Anything else would reduce the size of their TAM.

voidhorse• 4 years ago

he worked so hard that his marriage became strained and his hair turned white from the stress

yeah, so maybe don’t follow the Einstein principle?

The real issue is this obsession with abstract progress. Einstein was successful because he found something that he believed was important and meaningful. Prior to devoting yourself to some crazy project, I think it’s important to take time to reflect about whether or not the project is actually meaningful to you or if it’s just filler.

This is sort of what this article goes on to recommend, but I’d rather do it talking about meaning and significance in life than organizing everything around “productivity”.

The real issue is this line:

It’s too risky. If you invest fully in one thing, and then it fails, you’re left empty.

If failure means your project and experience will be entirely sapped of meaning, it’s a good sign it’s not the right project for you. You’re not passionate about the work, you’re passionate about outcomes. Be passionate about the work and the outcomes will fall out naturally, and better yet, if you enjoy your work in itself, you won’t care too much about outcomes.

paulpauper• 4 years ago

Reminds me of the 'Feynman Technique'...be as smart as Feynman..it tends to make progress easier

Einstein was smart and well-connected enough to know he was not on a dead end. He had the support of others who helped formulate some of the math. Others are not so fortunate or smart.

djmips• 4 years ago

The Feynman technique is compatible because it does say to think real hard. Sometimes people are so busy and distracted they don't even get to focus and think real hard. You don't have to be a genius to apply more to a particularly important problem.

moneywoes• 4 years ago

It’s too risky. If you invest fully in one thing, and then it fails, you’re left empty.

Makes me think about marriage with the divorce rate these days

mym19903• 4 years ago

Not ever being married myself, I would think that marriage should be an incredible experience to learn about yourself and your partner. A failed result can always have a positive return if you can find something to learn out of it.

To forego opportunities due to fear of failure or commitment is to miss out on some absolutely amazing experiences in life(and some heartbreaking ones).

swayvil3• 4 years ago

Was he striving to achieve a certain goal or was he exploring a vein? In the latter case there is no failure.

brutusborn• 4 years ago

One of the many reasons dating can be so stressful. I wonder if 'traditional' values of married couples sticking together no-matter-what reduced this stress somewhat

bumby3• 4 years ago

I think the data actually shows the highly accomplished, focused, and productive folks have lower divorce rates. Whether that correlates to happier marriages may be another issue.

bumby3• 4 years ago

This reminds me of Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Hours which is pretty good antidote to the hyper-productive, outcome-oriented mindset you’re talking about.

metadat2• 4 years ago

What if you're not Einstein, though? Just saying..

This is an idiot fallacy.

swayvil3• 4 years ago

You could say that what separates the einsteins from the idiots is a willingness to obsess over worthwhile projects.

And maybe the ability to locate worthwhile projects too, I suppose. That would be an important first step.

metadat2• 4 years ago

Better to embrace your own unique and [hopefully beautiful] nature full heatedly than obsess over someone else's ideas or what someone else did.

Thursday24• 4 years ago

Looks like everything a human does can fall into one or the other sort of fallacy. I sometimes think we should have a fallacy named merely for being around: "the breathing fallacy" (the mother of all fallacies)

yasinaydin• 4 years ago

Would an "existence fallacy" predate this?

swayvil3• 4 years ago

It's practically thermodynamics. Concentrate your energy on the smallest point possible if you wish to generate the highest temperature possible.

And if your energy is spent on a hundred different tasks, it's gonna take you that much longer to boil that pot of water.

This seems extremely straightforward and intuitive. Surely we do not need Einstin here to prove it for us.

Lwepz• 4 years ago

Sometimes that point exists in a region of concepts that isn't touched by anyone directly, so you have no clue what its exact location is, hence you can't concentrate your energy on it. What you can do, however is identify the conceptually closest and well understood points. These points may end up being in vastly different fields, each requiring vastly different ways of thinking and/or computational paradigms. _IF_ you're resourceful enough to focus your attention on all of these neighboring points "virtually" at once, then you have a chance to interpolate the position the original concept and finally concentrate on it.

arvinsim2• 4 years ago

It's never the concept that's hard. It's the execution.

prawn• 4 years ago

Is the execution hard no matter what, or because the concept is vague or being addressed at too broad a scope?

system2• 4 years ago

"These numerous seeds, however, have a tendency to transform into weeds."

Hit me the hardest.

recroad• 4 years ago

Pink Floyd’s Time hit me like that.

“Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines”

j7ake• 4 years ago

The way academics and VCs handle the stochastic nature of research and innovation (eg only a small fraction of ideas end up working) is to hire many people ready to devote all their energy to one or two projects. That way you have multiple projects, each with a dedicated and talented person leading it.

Then the seeds that grow into mighty oak trees survive, weeds are trimmed out and forgotten.

Note the Einstein was not that productive after he moved to Princeton. All his seeds became weeds after a certain age.

lifeisstillgood• 4 years ago

There ought to be some qualifier like "works in mice"

"if you're Einstein"

jeffail• 4 years ago

If I want to achieve something then I find the joy in pursuing it, at which point I will naturally do it when I'm capable and will do other things when I'm not.

Letting my attention float around freely (within limits obviously) often looks like I have a low attention span. However, with a birds eye view on what I'm able to get done I look like I'm hyper focused.

And if I can't find the joy in a long term pursuit then it's very unlikely to be worth my time.

tpoacher• 4 years ago

And here I thought the Einstein principle was that you can instantly make any idea or quote sound more credible by liberally attributing it to Einstein.

jyriand• 4 years ago

Or Mark Twain

tardismechanic2• 4 years ago

But not Jeffrey Epstein ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

MrVandemar• 4 years ago

"The Einstein principle is that you can instantly make any idea or quote sound more credible by liberally attributing it to Einstein. "

-- Mark Twain

avidphantasm• 4 years ago

If you have kids and your spouse also has a career, all this goes out the window, and you are stuck in survival mode for at least the first 5 years (assuming one kid). For example: extracurricular activities basically cease, and personal is winnowed down to getting the bare minimum of exercise if you are lucky. Still it’s probably good advice to trim professional projects if you can. However, many people don’t have the same flexibility to do this as an academic does, but can learn to say “no” to projects, which sometimes works.

cercatrova5• 4 years ago

Another solution is to not have kids, interestingly enough.

greymalik• 4 years ago

Sorry, horse has left the barn on that one.

b-lee• 4 years ago

What is the point of "productivity" if you're not accomplishing what is important in your life?

fitch321• 4 years ago

Another one is to have a stay at home mom.

MrPatan• 4 years ago

A wrong but self-correcting strategy.

Accomplish more by doing less (2007)

Related Stories