Productivity - Sam Altman

I think I am<br>at least somewhat more productive than average, and people sometimes ask me for<br>productivity tips.  So I decided to just write them all down in one place.

Compound<br>growth gets discussed as a financial concept, but it works in careers as well,<br>and it is magic.  A small productivity<br>gain, compounded over 50 years, is worth a lot.<br>So it’s worth figuring out how to optimize productivity. If you get 10%<br>more done and 1% better every day compared to someone else, the compounded<br>difference is massive.

What you work on

It doesn’t<br>matter how fast you move if it’s in a worthless direction.  Picking the right thing to work on is the<br>most important element of productivity and usually almost ignored.  So think about it more!  Independent thought is hard but it’s<br>something you can get better at with practice.

The most<br>impressive people I know have strong beliefs about the world, which is rare in<br>the general population.  If you find yourself always agreeing with whomever<br>you last spoke with, that’s bad.  You<br>will of course be wrong sometimes, but develop the confidence to stick with<br>your convictions.  It will let you be<br>courageous when you’re right about something important that most people don’t<br>see.

I make sure to<br>leave enough time in my schedule to think about what to work on.  The best<br>ways for me to do this are reading books, hanging out with interesting people,<br>and spending time in nature.

I’ve learned<br>that I can’t be very productive working on things I don’t care about or don’t<br>like.  So I just try not to put myself in a position where I have to do<br>them (by delegating, avoiding, or something else).  Stuff that you don’t<br>like is a painful drag on morale and momentum.

By the way,<br>here is an important lesson about delegation: remember that everyone else is also<br>most productive when they’re doing what they like, and do what you’d want other<br>people to do for you—try to figure out who likes (and is good at) doing what,<br>and delegate that way.

If you find<br>yourself not liking what you’re doing for a long period of time, seriously<br>consider a major job change.  Short-term burnout happens, but if it isn’t<br>resolved with some time off, maybe it’s time to do something you’re more<br>interested in.

I’ve been very<br>fortunate to find work I like so much I’d do it for free, which makes it easy<br>to be really productive.

It’s important<br>to learn that you can learn anything you want, and that you can get better<br>quickly.  This feels like an unlikely miracle the first few times it<br>happens, but eventually you learn to trust that you can do it.

Doing great<br>work usually requires colleagues of some sort.  Try to be around smart,<br>productive, happy, and positive people that don’t belittle your ambitions.  I love being around people who push me and<br>inspire me to be better.  To the degree<br>you able to, avoid the opposite kind of people—the cost of letting them take up<br>your mental cycles is horrific.

You have to<br>both pick the right problem and do the work.  There aren’t many<br>shortcuts.  If you’re going to do<br>something really important, you are very likely going to work both smart and<br>hard.  The biggest prizes are heavily competed for.  This isn’t true in every field (there are<br>great mathematicians who never spend that many hours a week working) but it is<br>in most.

Prioritization

My system has<br>three key pillars: “Make sure to get the important shit done”, “Don’t waste<br>time on stupid shit”, and “make a lot of lists”.

I highly<br>recommend using lists.  I make lists of what I want to accomplish each<br>year, each month, and each day.  Lists are very focusing, and they help me<br>with multitasking because I don’t have to keep as much in my head.  If I’m not in the mood for some particular<br>task, I can always find something else I’m excited to do.

I prefer lists<br>written down on paper.  It’s easy to add<br>and remove tasks.  I can access them<br>during meetings without feeling rude.  I<br>re-transcribe lists frequently, which forces me to think about everything on the<br>list and gives me an opportunity to add and remove items.

I don’t bother<br>with categorization or trying to size tasks or anything like that (the most I<br>do is put a star next to really important items).

I try to<br>prioritize in a way that generates momentum.  The more I get done, the<br>better I feel, and then the more I get done.<br>I like to start and end each day with something I can really make<br>progress on.

I am<br>relentless about getting my most important projects done—I’ve found that if I<br>really want something to happen and I push hard enough, it usually happens.

I try to be<br>ruthless about saying no to stuff, and doing non-critical things in the<br>quickest way possible.  I probably take this too far—for example, I am<br>almost sure I am terse to the point of rudeness when replying to emails.

I generally<br>try to avoid meetings and conferences as I find the time cost to be huge—I get<br>the most value out of time in my office.  However, it is critical that you<br>keep...