Ep-009: On Zipf’s Law of Least Effort and virtuous laziness 80/20 Productivity

Episode Summary

Should you be lazy? The answer might surprise you.

We often hear the advice to ‘work hard’. When we have difficulties, well-meaning people advise us to bear down, buckle-up or lean in and ‘work harder’.

But in this episode, we take a closer a look at this piece of advice in the light of the 80/20 principle. Specifically, I’ll introduce or reintroduce you to Zipf’s Law of least effort and how it can help you do more by doing less.

Some of the main points—The Vital Few (TVF) Timestamps:

The nerdy stuff: What is the Law of Least Effort? (1:35)

Can laziness be a virtue and the 2 kinds of laziness (07:05)

Misunderstanding the law of least effort, the false exaltation of hard work and the primacy of the goal (12:07)

The 3 keys to applying The Law of Least Effort (18:57)

Notes and References

The Principle of Least Effort and the Zipf Distribution (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1113/1/012007 )

Additive Bias Reference: There are many references to this cognitive bias, but a good article can be found in The Scientific American here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/our-brain-typically-overlooks-this-brilliant-problem-solving-strategy/

Ancient philosophers regarding man as a teleological being: https://www.britannica.com/topic/teleology

Anthony’s Book: The Law of The Vital Few