Cautiously Optimize

Though we are told “Avoid premature optimization!” in programming, it seems that principle applies to any sufficiently complex system—even life.

The dangers of premature optimization are mostly relegated to the space of lost time, since you don’t know that you’ll actually need the solution you’re building. However, an additional danger that we don’t often consider, is that what we optimize is usually enforcing a trade-off somewhere else. If we aren’t aware of that, we might inadvertently create a worse situation than the “un-optimized” situation.

Allow me to illustrate with the actual real life events that got me thinking about this.

I recently acquired a punching bag to add to my collection of fitness toys.

No, your eyes aren’t crooked. I captured this as the bag was still swinging.

While give it the ol’ 1-2 between sets, I realized that I was actually really enjoying myself. Blasting 50 Cent, punching things, and lifting weights. It’s a wild man’s dream. And I thought to myself, ”Man, this is fun. I’m glad I got that punching bag.”

And then it dawned on me.

I had optimized for the wrong thing

I barely had made it into the gym that day. I had wrestling and boxing coming up that night, and I usually use that as sufficient excuse to not work out during the day. But I realized that it was a really enjoyable time.

Last year, I created the perfect workout routine, complete with a 5-day schedule to ensure there was not a single muscle that could escape getting crushed on a weekly basis. To my perfectionist mind, it was perfect—optimized even!

But it wasn’t.

Gap days showed up here and there. Then maybe I missed a week here or there.

My gym at 12pm

I had optimized for muscle fatigue instead of optimizing for time spent in the gym. My goal is to be a person who lifts often and stays fit. Not someone who perfectly optimizes their physique. With that goal, a boring workout that hits every conceivable muscle is actually a really poor optimization! A better optimization is crafting a workout that I look forward to doing. That way I’m optimizing for the most important metric—CONSISTENCY.

So next time your perfectionist brain says, “This is optimal”, dig deeper! You may find that “optimal” is anything but.