<ul><li>In matters of organization, always consider if sorting is a juice that’s worth the squeeze. You may be better off searching.</li><li>Stop signing off on emails. That’s what default signatures are for. Don’t be afraid to break conventions if it saves you time.</li><li>&nbsp;Being so vague that it creates work for others. Protect everyone’s cognitive loads by being specific and actionable.</li><li>Stick to decision-making criteria and favor iteration over perfectionism.</li></ul>

Behaviors and biases holding us back

<figure><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/0*jj4HTNI2awQ" width="680" height="453"><figcaption class="ic id cz cx cy ie if ce b ga cg fi" data-selectable-paragraph="" dir="ltr">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@headwayio?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral" class="ck ig" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Headway</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral" class="ck ig" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>Vestigial. An adjective “<a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/vestigial#:~:text=Vestigial%20is%20used%20to%20describe,over%20from%20a%20previous%20version." rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">used</a> to describe something that used to have a function but has now shrunk and is mostly not used anymore”.If you type “vestigial human behaviors” into the search bar, you’ll <a href="https://www.britannica.com/list/7-vestigial-features-of-the-human-body" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">find</a> a list of traits like wisdom teeth, the appendix, and tailbones. What about the ludicrous behaviors and activities we partake in every day?Maybe you needed them before — as a creator, you probably won’t anymore. Axe these mindless maneuvers to save you time, energy, and money.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">1. Organizing everything into folders.</h1>Your inbox looks like a mess!Within two weeks at a new job, I had amassed 750 unread emails. My inbox was flooded with newsletters and company blogs I recently subscribed to. My coworker thought I was a bored, lonely hoarder.I saw myself as a Curious George managing the chaos. There were no plans to organize any of it. More importantly, I knew that computer science was on my side.In Algorithms to Live By, the authors explain the tradeoff between search and sort:<BLOCKQUOTE>“As the cost of searching drops, sorting becomes less valuable.”</BLOCKQUOTE>Research scientist and professor Steve Whittaker would agree — after spending two decades studying how people manage personal information. In his <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221518713_Am_I_wasting_my_time_organizing_email" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">paper</a> “Am I Wasting My Time Organizing Email?”, the conclusion drawn is almost always a resounding yes.A <a href="https://alifeofproductivity.com/stop-organizing-email-folders-searching-email-way-faster-study/#:~:text=Technology-,Stop%20organizing%20your%20email%20into%20folders%3A%20Searching,email%20is%20way%20faster%20(study)&amp;text=Takeaway%3A%20Stop%20organizing%20your%20email,your%20inbox%20is%20way%20faster.&amp;text=Searching%20through%20your%20inbox%20is%20much%20faster.,an%20email%20in%20a%20folder." rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">study</a> of 345 users revealed that it took participants 66 seconds to search for an email and 73 seconds to find an email in a folder on average. Once you factor in the upfront work it takes to sort emails into folders, the inefficiencies grow only larger with scale.When in doubt, err on the side of messiness.The lesson applies to the world outside of email, too. After years of optimizing for information architecture on Google Drive, I made the switch to a Kanban board on Notion. Instead of sorting through subfolders, I used cards to prioritize and house key documents. By my estimates, this process has saved me 10 hours this year already.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">2. Signing off on emails. That’s what default signatures are for.</h1>Thanks,Name.Name, title, team, company.Why do we need the first two lines? Even if it only takes a second to type, this adds up to over four hours a year given that the average worker <a href="https://info.templafy.com/blog/how-many-emails-are-sent-every-day-top-email-statistics-your-business-needs-to-know" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">sends</a> 40 emails per day. Imagine what mountains you could move with that time.<BLOCKQUOTE>“Reciprocity is not mandatory“ — David Lubar</BLOCKQUOTE>Being nice is crucial — following conventions won’t always be — especially as a creator. Just be more thankful in the body of the email if you’re worried about seeming pleasant. Better yet, throw it in the default signature and save everyone time.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">3. Being so vague that it creates work for others.</h1>I’m wide open, anytime works for me!If you’ve been on the receiving end of this message, you know the feeling. Anxiety. All of a sudden, the tables have turned. You’re now in charge of finding the most convenient time that works for both of you. Brian from Algorithms to Live By <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/notetoself/episodes/algorithms-practical-efficiency" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">refers</a> to this “passing the computational buck”.The above situation reminds us to <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/62PRkMtu5jiBA9wLN/what-i-got-out-of-algorithms-to-live-by#comp-kind" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">consider</a> the implicit work our actions place on others. Proposing specific times and next steps reduces the cognitive load on others.Streamlining decisions makes life easier for everyone — which brings me to the next point.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">4. Taking too long to make decisions.</h1>Ever heard of the paradox of choice?As described in Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly, abundance is often seen as a yardstick of progress — to a limit. Too much actually deteriorates the quality of life. A broad selection can result in paralysis, poor decision-making, and discontent.<BLOCKQUOTE>“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90 percent, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.” — Jeff Bezos</BLOCKQUOTE>Armed with an awareness of the cognitive biases surrounding us, we can establish criteria and set expectations for decisions. Instead of aiming for perfection, shoot for a balance of speed and iteration.In a world filled with unlimited information, “good enough” is the new great.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">Conclusion</h1>Time is money. It’s also cognitive space. How can we protect ourselves and our teams against behaviors and biases holding us back?<OL><LI>In matters of organization, always consider if sorting is a juice that’s worth the squeeze. You may be better off searching.</LI><LI>Stop signing off on emails. Don’t be afraid to break conventions if it saves you time.</LI><LI>Protect everyone’s cognitive loads by being specific and actionable.</LI><LI>Stick to decision-making criteria and favor iteration over perfectionism.</LI></OL>

Vestigial. An adjective “used to describe something that used to have a function but has now shrunk and is mostly not used anymore”. If you type “vestigial human behaviors” into the search bar…

productivity

Productivity

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

startup

Startups

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Vestigial. An adjective “<a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/vestigial#:~:text=Vestigial%20is%20used%20to%20describe,over%20from%20a%20previous%20version.">used </a>to describe something that used to have a function but has now shrunk and is mostly not used anymore”.

If you type “vestigial human behaviors” into the search bar, you’ll <a href="https://www.britannica.com/list/7-vestigial-features-of-the-human-body">find </a>a list of traits like wisdom teeth, the appendix, and tailbones. What about the ludicrous behaviors and activities we partake in every day?

Maybe you needed them before — as a creator, you probably won’t anymore. Axe these mindless maneuvers to save you time, energy, and money.

Your inbox looks like a mess!

Within two weeks at a new job, I had amassed 750 unread emails. My inbox was flooded with newsletters and company blogs I recently subscribed to. My coworker thought I was a bored, lonely hoarder.

I saw myself as a Curious George managing the chaos. There were no plans to organize any of it. More importantly, I knew that computer science was on my side.

In Algorithms to Live By , the authors explain the tradeoff between search and sort:

“As the cost of searching drops, sorting becomes less valuable.”

Research scientist and professor Steve Whittaker would agree — after spending two decades studying how people manage personal information. In his <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221518713_Am_I_wasting_my_time_organizing_email">paper </a>“Am I Wasting My Time Organizing Email?”, the conclusion drawn is almost always a resounding yes.

A <a href="https://alifeofproductivity.com/stop-organizing-email-folders-searching-email-way-faster-study/#:~:text=Technology-,Stop%20organizing%20your%20email%20into%20folders%3A%20Searching,email%20is%20way%20faster%20(study)&text=Takeaway%3A%20Stop%20organizing%20your%20email,your%20inbox%20is%20way%20faster.&text=Searching%20through%20your%20inbox%20is%20much%20faster.,an%20email%20in%20a%20folder.">study </a>of 345 users revealed that it took participants 66 seconds to search for an email and 73 seconds to find an email in a folder on average. Once you factor in the upfront work it takes to sort emails into folders, the inefficiencies grow only larger with scale.

When in doubt, err on the side of messiness.

The lesson applies to the world outside of email, too. After years of optimizing for information architecture on Google Drive, I made the switch to a Kanban board on Notion. Instead of sorting through subfolders, I used cards to prioritize and house key documents. By my estimates, this process has saved me 10 hours this year already.

2. Signing off on emails. That’s what default signatures are for.

Name, title, team, company.

Why do we need the first two lines? Even if it only takes a second to type, this adds up to over four hours a year given that the average worker <a href="https://info.templafy.com/blog/how-many-emails-are-sent-every-day-top-email-statistics-your-business-needs-to-know">sends </a>40 emails per day. Imagine what mountains you could move with that time.

“Reciprocity is not mandatory“ — David Lubar

Being nice is crucial — following conventions won’t always be — especially as a creator. Just be more thankful in the body of the email if you’re worried about seeming pleasant. Better yet, throw it in the default signature and save everyone time.

3. Being so vague that it creates work for others.

I’m wide open, anytime works for me!

If you’ve been on the receiving end of this message, you know the feeling. Anxiety. All of a sudden, the tables have turned. You’re now in charge of finding the most convenient time that works for both of you. Brian from Algorithms to Live By <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/notetoself/episodes/algorithms-practical-efficiency">refers </a>to this “passing the computational buck”.

The above situation reminds us to <a href="https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/62PRkMtu5jiBA9wLN/what-i-got-out-of-algorithms-to-live-by#comp-kind">consider </a>the implicit work our actions place on others. Proposing specific times and next steps reduces the cognitive load on others.

Streamlining decisions makes life easier for everyone — which brings me to the next point.

Ever heard of the paradox of choice?

As described in Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly , abundance is often seen as a yardstick of progress — to a limit. Too much actually deteriorates the quality of life. A broad selection can result in paralysis, poor decision-making, and discontent.

“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90 percent, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.” — Jeff Bezos

Armed with an awareness of the cognitive biases surrounding us, we can establish criteria and set expectations for decisions. Instead of aiming for perfection, shoot for a balance of speed and iteration.

In a world filled with unlimited information, “good enough” is the new great.

Time is money. It’s also cognitive space. How can we protect ourselves and our teams against behaviors and biases holding us back?

<ol><li>In matters of organization, always consider if sorting is a juice that’s worth the squeeze. You may be better off searching. </li><li>Stop signing off on emails. Don’t be afraid to break conventions if it saves you time. </li><li>Protect everyone’s cognitive loads by being specific and actionable. </li><li>Stick to decision-making criteria and favor iteration over perfectionism. </li> </ol>

Four Behaviors Stopping You from Creating More

Behaviors and biases holding us back

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