…or the it doesn’t make a difference anyway fallacy.

Improving Productivity is Futile

I once had a coaching call on some generic productivity topic along the lines of “I’m not getting done as much as I’d like to”. My hope was that we might identify ways for me to become more productive and get more done. The coach, however, very quickly narrowed in on figuring out what I typically work on in order to eliminate the least valuable things – also a good idea for sure, but this approach seemed a bit disappointing to me. I had the impression I already had a good selection of high-value things, and really only wanted to do more of them, rather than dropping some in favor of others. When I asked about this, he seemed to have a strong conviction that “getting more done” is futile – you can’t [...]

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Outline:

(00:22) Improving Productivity is Futile

(02:12) Futility Everywhere?

(05:47) Futility is Rare

(07:26) Putting it all Together

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
August 23rd, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6HJckDZuj2j5KGdhY/futility-illusions

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Fake data that may or may not help me make a point.

Holstein dairy cow standing in green pasture beside small sapling.

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“Futility Illusions” by silentbob

LessWrong (30+ Karma)