Insight: In life we are not satisfied by obtaining goals, but by striving for them.
Insight: Acquiring material things beyond their usefulness doesn't provide any benefits, rather it comes at a cost.
Insight: The law of diminishing returns means that it is natural to seek new things, or new dimensions to old things to bring satisfaction.
Principle: Seek new things (goals); work toward and learning in the process of pursuing goals; achieve goals; continue this process.
Definition: After a certain point, each extra unit of input produces a decreasing rate of output
Example: Producing 2 pages of writing after 2 hours, and 3 pages after 4 hours - the rate of output is slowing down.
Insight: Past a certain point, more effort doesn't produce better performance, it can sabotage it.
Insight: Negative returns means to decrease overall output with each additional unit of input.
Principle: With any project, define what "done" looks like, then stop.
Principle: Stop before diminishing returns sets in.
Definition: When increasing resources of effort leads to small results.
Insight: Diminishing returns can eventually turn into negative returns: extra inputs decrease overall output.
Insight: Our capacity for making decisions during each day is to the law of diminishing returns: there is only so much thinking we can do before mental fatigue kicks in. Gathering additional information before making decisions is also subject to diminishing returns - information gathering takes time, and every time we delay we continue to lose value.
Insight: We feel increasingly bored, then we need to find new and stronger forms of entertainment, travel, hobbies.
Insight:The pursuit of pleasure leads to diminishing returns.
Definition: As you increase input to a given variable, all else constant, increases to yield will evertually stop.
Insight: Given diminishing returns, it is important to develop nimble and evolving strategies for many systems and processes.
Example: Research - the more time you spend, eventually it will be less valuable than learning.
Insight: The more time you invest in an activity, the weaker and weaker the benefits will be.
Principle: When writing, stop when you start making mistakes.
Principle: When you are tired, stop.
Reference: Steinbeck - said he always wanted to leave something in the well for the next day.
Insight: All good things are subject to diminishing returns - beyond a certain point more of something can be detrimental.
Insight: It is better to spend a little bit of time and energy toward achieving big goals than doing nothing.
Principle: Focus on a few simple things that produce most of the results you want, then stop for the day.
Example: Adding additional redundancies to an engineering project eventually makes them a burden rather than a benefit - they add additional complexity, weight, and cost.
Example: Small farm or factory - with each new labour input there will come a time where each added worker causes less output than the last.
Example: Achieving 80% might cost less energy and effort than the final 20%, which will certainly cost more than the first 20%.
Example: The more advertising there is out there, the more aggressively brands need to market to stand out.
Key Insights & Principles
Productivity
Beyond a certain point additional input can be detrimental.
Given diminishing returns, it is important to be flexible and evolve.
Acquiring material things beyond their usefulness does not provide any benefit, rather it comes at a cost.
Each day, our capacity for making decisions is subject to diminishing returns.
Define "done", or targets, and when you hit them, stop.
Focus on the few things that produce most of the results, then stop.
