Chapter 1: Fortunately, You're Inefficient!
You can save at least 20 minutes every day if you read and follow this book. Welcome to the world of efficiency! The title says that you are inefficient, referring to inefficiency in the context of using Microsoft Office tools.
My apologies if you feel I am being too harsh. I'm not doubting your ability, expertise, domain knowledge, or experience. Just try the efficiency tests in this chapter to understand what I mean by "inefficiency."
When you use any software, such as Office 365, that has thousands of features, inefficiency is inevitable. Why so? Because you can get the same results in multiple ways. We find one of the ways – usually by trial and error – and stick to it. We never try to find out whether there is a better, faster, smarter way.
Exact probability: Let's say one activity can be done in four different ways. Only one of these methods is efficient. You find one of the methods. You have a 25% chance of finding the best method. How many activities do we perform with Office? Let's say 120. What is the chance of finding the best way every time? 5.6597994e-71%, which basically means zero! In fact, with just 7 activities, the probability drops to 0.006%.
Note
It is statistically impossible to be efficient by using trial and error.
Why did I say "fortunately"? Because you have already taken the first step. You are reading this and thinking about it. Noticing the problem is the first step of solving a problem. By the end of this book, you will be super efficient. You will save an enormous amount of time, which is the immediate reward of efficiency. You can then invest that time in activities that drive your growth or add value to your life. That's fortunate, is it not?
Let's begin your efficiency transformation. The main topics we will cover in this chapter are as follows:
- What's in it for you?
- Evaluating your inefficiency
- Inefficiency audit – how to find your own inefficiency
- Why are there so many features?
- Discovering your needs behind features
- Moving from a vicious cycle to a virtuous cycle
- Frequent questions answered