The upside of inefficiency

I faced a serious dilemma the other night.

One that has plagued society for generations.

What am I going to do for dinner?

It was already eight o’clock so I knew cooking was off the menu. Plus, my fiancé had taken her car to visit her family for the weekend. The same car that I’ve claimed as my own without her permission since mine broke down.

So here I was, lacking motivation to cook + transportation to get around. Hence my dilemma. I already settled on what I would be feasting on - General Tso’s chicken. But now I had to make a crucial decision that continues to puzzle us to this day.

Photo by Israel Albornoz on Unsplash

Delivery or carry-out? 🤔

I looked up the restaurant and discovered the finger-licking chicken was one mile away. Just short enough to consider walking and just far enough to not feel like a lazy piece of you-know-what if I had the meal delivered.

My thumb hovered to and fro on the checkout page. Delivery or carry-out? Argh!

Enough. It’s been settled.

*clicks carry-out*

The journey

It was a thirty-eight minute walk to get there and back so I begrudgingly threw on some pants and headed out.

It must have been my lucky night because I only encountered one passerby who looked like they might take a swing at me for my General Tso’s. Thankfully, I returned home, bag secured.

I ripped the bag open (wondering why it says “thank you” six times), unveiled the prize from my trek and took my first bite. What happened next surprised me…

I thought, “Woah. Why does this taste so good tonight?”

Of course I knew there was no such thing as bad tasting General Tso’s (unless it’s from an airport food court) but this was different.

Then it hit me…

The inefficient choice was the better one.

The joy of inefficiency

When faced with the choices of delivery or carry-out, I went with the inefficient one. Instead of merely sitting on the couch and waiting for the doorbell to ring, I got my butt up and walked thirty-eight minutes to retrieve it.

This got me thinking.

Did my meal taste better due to exerting more energy and effort?

Without realizing it, my appetite increased in direct proportion to the delayed gratification. I did the inefficient thing and was rewarded with a better experience.

“Hunger is the best sauce.” - Miguel de Cervantes

Something to chew on

As I devoured my last bite, I chewed on a question for dessert since they forgot to include my fortune cookie.

If human civilization had to be summed up in one word, what would it be?

Efficiency.

According to the dictionary, Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing a desired result.

Think about it, is there any facet of life that has not seen an exponential rise 📈 in efficiency over the past ten thousand years?

Let’s take a look.

• Transportation: went from walking on foot ➡️ flying by plane.

• Communication: went from speaking face-to-face ➡️ FaceTiming.

• Food consumption: went from a grueling three-day hunt in search of meat ➡️ receiving organic, grass-fed, hormone-free meat on your doorstep via Instacart.

We have gone from an inefficient species to a hyper-efficient one without any signs of slowing down.

What’s the problem?

At first glance, nothing.

But let’s dig a little deeper.

I’ve often made the mistake of automatically equating efficient with better. Thanks to all those friendly advertisers and marketers 😊.

What if we are overlooking the value of inefficiency?

Inefficient = better?

Let’s test this with a few examples.

1. Family time: It’s more efficient to have a FaceTime visit with your family that lives across the country. But that’s not the point. By going through the inefficiencies of: taking time off work, booking a flight, packing bags, dealing with TSA, and flying for several hours you are communicating that they are more important than a call.

2. Information consumption: It’s more efficient to listen to podcasts, audiobooks, or lectures on 3x speed (even though they sound like chipmunks). But at what cost? I was the prime culprit of what I call the TLDR approach. I couldn’t remember anything, but who cares? I was being “efficient”! The only thing I was efficient at was getting to the end while sacrificing any real learning. I now prefer the inefficient method where I listen to audio on 1x speed so I actually comprehend the words. I also read physical books slowly, chapter by chapter, day by day, with pen in hand so I can jot down notes and question the author. This helps me internalize the information.

3. Note taking: It’s more efficient to open up the laptop and type notes while listening to a lecture. But the research is clear. According to Grade Power Learning: “…the better way to cement knowledge in your brain is to write your notes by hand.”

Inefficient? Yes. But better? Indeed.

It took me a long time to realize that many of the efficient methods I was using weren’t doing me any good. The inefficient route can be the better one to adopt.

Back to my dilemma. My dining experience ended up being significantly better as a result of my inefficient carry-out selection.

So what?

We have reached a tipping point where it no longer makes sense to keep striving for incremental efficiency improvements in all aspects of life. Some areas, sure. But we must not assume that efficient always means best.

It’s time to take a hard look at ourselves and commit to the difficult decision of inefficiency over efficiency. It will feel wrong at first, but it just might lead to a more enjoyable way through life.

Think of some of the inefficient activities in your life. For how many of them are you grateful today, because thanks to them you experienced more joy and satisfaction?

Every inefficient activity contains in itself a seed of enjoyment.

---

Thank you to my editors for your helpful feedback: Karena d., Chris C., CansaFis F., and Tobi E.

---

I love reading and responding to your insightful comments below