Eric Allen
Interweb Alchemist
Optimizing Your Work Week
Why Optimize?
Efficiency
Source: xkcd - Is it Worth The Time?
Work-Based Example
Let's say you perform a routine work task an average of 10 times per day and it takes you 2 minutes to do it.
2 * 10 * 5 * 48 = 4,800
4,800 minutes = 80 hours
(this and all further calculations will assume you work a full 5-day week 48 weeks out of the 52)
If you shave 30 seconds off this task, how many work hours do you save in a year?
20 hours
You can save about 20 work hours a year by removing 30 seconds from a task you perform 10 times a day.
How many tasks do you think you perform at least 10 times a day?
How much could you get done in 20 hours?
Consistency
If you can automate a task, even one you only perform once a month, the risk of that task being done incorrectly drops astronomically.
Repeatability
Having a simple, automated system that you can teach others to use means that someone else can take over if you aren't able, or you can move the responsibility to a different position without worrying.
Knowledge
Generally, in the process of optimizing you will learn new things about the applications that you use the most and ways your common applications can interact.
Contagion
Efficiency is like a virus.
Zen
Thinking about the time you've saved gives you a warm fuzzy feeling. *
*this evidence is purely anecdotal and has no empirical evidence **
**except for those warm fuzzy feelings you will undoubtedly have
What to Optimize?
Mundane Tasks
Is there a faster and/or easier way to find that file you're looking for?
Frequent Actions
Is there a script that can take care of renaming those files or exporting the various versions of that asset?
Distractions
Can you remove or schedule some frequent distractions?
It takes about 25 minutes to get back into a task once you are interrupted.*
Is that email worth the time to read, the time to respond, and the 25 minutes to get back into the mindset of your original task?
* source: Interruption Science
Common Actions
Someone out there performs similar tasks, and someone out there has found a way to make them faster.
Optimization Tools
Time Sink
Self Control
Super Ego
Alfred
Terminal
Spark
AppleScripts
Keyboard Shortcuts
Batch Operations
Text Expansion
App Customization
You do not have to accept a default interface and default settings.
Questions?
Optimizing Your Workflow
By Eric Allen
Optimizing Your Workflow
Full Belly, Full Brain talk for Social Design House 2013-11-19
