Efficiency Thwarts Happiness and the Good Life

Are you too efficient?

Efficiency and the good life usually don’t mix well.  You just can’t rush happiness.  It is like Nathaniel Hawthorne said, “Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

The good life tends to come at its own pace.  Think back to a really enjoyable moment in your life.  Was it rushed?  Not likely.  It was probably something that just happened and you had the good fortune to be a part of it.

We are always looking for shortcuts.  We look for ways to produce the good life faster and with less effort.  These rarely work out.  In fact, they often cost us the good life all together.

The Law of the Farm and the Good Life

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.
~ Proverb

I would argue that a good life is the natural product of consistent, positive action.  I think this is best explained by the Law of the Farm from Stephen Covey’s First Things First.

The Law of the Farm says that you have to abide by certain principles if you want to reap the best harvest.  The farmer cannot rush the natural growing cycle.  A good crop takes the right soil, good timing and disciplined action.

One of the examples that Covey shares in the book is how he “crammed” his way through undergraduate school only to pay the price once he got into graduate studies.  He hadn’t laid the proper foundation so he really struggled when things got tougher.

Can you imagine "cramming" on the farm? Can you imagine forgetting to plant in the spring, flaking out all summer, and hitting it hard in the fall–ripping the soil up, throwing in the seeds, watering, cultivating–and expecting to get a bountiful harvest overnight?
~ Stephen Covey, First Things First 

This is exactly the way we approach so much of life.  We try to be too efficient.  We want maximum results for minimum effort.  We want to do less with more.

You cannot cram for happiness.  However, I do believe that you can do specific activities that will make you happier.  Again, this effort has to follow the Law of the Farm.  It cannot be done efficiently.  It has to follow the right natural principles.  You have to cultivate happiness through consistent, positive action.

The Areas of Life Where We Are Too Efficient

We take the efficient cramming approach all too often in:

• School
• Our Relationships
• Raising Our Children
• Building Our Careers
• Starting Businesses
• Losing Weight
• Getting Healthy
• Finding Happiness
• Establishing a Life
• Creating Prosperity

This list could go on and on.  We simply lack patience and therefore try to speed up what cannot be effectively rushed.

Ways Efficiency Thwarts the Good Life

There are several ways that we try to be too efficient.  I’ll give you a few examples:

1.  Hurrying

It’s funny really.  We rush wanting the best life has to offer and yet it costs us exactly what we are after.  As Covey discovered, you cannot cram because it leaves you with a price to pay later.  We have to go back and fix what we messed up.  I love how Gretchen from The Happiness Project explains the need to slow down in her article called Take Your Time. Especially When You’re in a Hurry.  Hurrying definitely thwarts the good life.  Another great example is road rage.  Don’t we get so angry because we are in a hurry?  Doesn’t road rage thwart our happiness?

2.  Multitasking

Multitasking does not make us more productive.  Multitasking is a myth.  When we attempt to do more than one thing at a time, our focus is not truly on either task.  We are torn.  Divided.  This is why talking on our mobile phones while we are driving is such a bad idea.  We tend to try to drive on autopilot while we concentrate on our conversation.  Researchers have found the this is the equivalent of driving while intoxicated.  If it impairs our driving, then how much more does multitasking thwart our ability to focus on what really counts in life like our relationships, children or important goals?

3.  No Stick-to-it-tiveness

In the name of efficiency, we often give up on things too soon.  We think a short burst of really intense effort in a given area of life should produce big results.  If it doesn’t, then we conclude that it won’t work.  We do this in business, relationships and self-improvement.  This violates the Law of the Farm.  Things take time.  We have to slow down and have more patience.  We have to incorporate these changes into our lifestyle in order to really experience the payoff we desire.

4.  Debt

This might seem like an odd one to put on the list, but given the economy right now and the way many people are struggling financially, I think it is appropriate.  We expedite getting what we want.  We use debt as a way to “efficiently” build a life, but it is a facade.  A fake.  Taking out loans to buy things we cannot afford (can’t pay cash for) is cramming.  It is a method of trying to rush happiness.  Unfortunately, for many, the walls have crumbling down because they didn’t follow sound personal finance principles.

Stop Being Too Efficient and Start Living the Good Life

Efficiency can definitely rob us of the good life.  We need to slow down and plant the seeds of happiness.  It takes time for the seeds to grow and mature.  They’ll need constant care.  You’ll have to water, fertilize and protect them, but one day you’ll have a strong, giant tree that no one can shake.  This is where the good life is truly found.

Photo by USFS Region 5