Reducing Unnecessary Motion

Written by Editor in Chief, Pick The Brain - 9 Comments
Categories: productivity tips

Have you ever wondered why short basketball players tend to be better shooters than tall ones?

It isn’t that they’re inherently less skilled. Tall players actually have a physical disadvantage in this area. Tall bodies means long arms and long legs. When shooting this translates into more motion. More motion means more can go wrong. Small errors are magnified. The result is less accurate shots.

This concept applies to everything. If you want to be more productive, eliminate unnecessary motion.

Think of your work process. Every single day is filled with hundreds or thousands of actions. How many of these actions are really necessary? How many could be avoided? How many distractions could be eliminated?

Avoiding unnecessary actions gives you more time to focus on the tasks that really matters, the tasks that lead to happiness and success.

The key to being more productive isn’t doing more. It’s doing less, better.

  • http://alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    Hey John, I am responding to the dare to leave a comment that’s underneath the post.

    On a serious note, I haven’t heard this old principle described quite the way you have done it here.

    I invite you to visit this Wikipedia article (i love wikipedia) for the article on Occam’s razor. You’ve brought new life to an old concept.

  • Robin

    yeah,yeah,yeah,but what if you work smart and hard? Hmmmmmm

  • http://www.lifeoptimizer.org Donald Latumahina

    I totally agree. I remember a sentence I read in a John C. Maxwell’s book: “do only a few things, the things you are good at”.

  • CraigH

    Good point, bad analogy: try shooting a basketball (or throwing a baseball) by only moving your hand, then try again pushing with your legs and using your whole arm. The point is wasted motion, not total motion. (But if you’d like to go bowling while simply standing still while I get to do the full windup, I can’t wait to play for money).

  • http://www.pickthebrain.com John Wesley

    Basketball and baseball require a certain amount of power to get the ball where it needs to go. There are other constraints like defenders. That’s why players normally shoot jump shots from the field, but stay on the floor at the free throw line. Obviously no analogy fits perfectly.

    What about darts?

  • Robin

    and the hereforto stated shall…blah blah watching a craftsman ply his trade is a perfect example…and if your lucky enough to watch one that enjoys his work…just watch the nuances fly

  • Michael

    I’ve been telling people this for many years. In martial arts, particularly kenpo, we call this “economy of motion”. Within each technique. each movement is made towards a specific purpose. With practice and refinement, extraneous movements are taken out.

  • http://www.mypromdresses.co.uk/ prom gowns

    thx for this good post,suggestion!

  • http://www.burberryoutletsmall.com Ask

    Meditation is one of the easiest techniques you can learn to refuel your body, mind and spirit. While many of us have heard of the benefits of meditation, few of us actually want to spend the time it takes to learn how to meditate. We often cling to stress, fear and anxiety because we think we need these things in order to function in this fast-paced world.