October 18, 2021 – Osasu Oviawe

Today, I recall a story my younger brother once shared as a hack for turning off his generator.

Let’s call it the water heater effect.

Anytime he wants to turn of the generator, and doesn’t feel like going outside, he just turns on the water heater, and the overwhelming load shuts down the generator. It is like a free accessible remote control.

We laughed about it and I shared my worry that his generator might become faulty with this strategy soon.

Then we talked about how the same thing applies to humans, but unlike generators, we keep struggling to carry loads above our capacity.

Some crosses come to help us know when to stop, but we struggle to keep going, finding no rest until death.

The water heater effect states that when a load above your capacity is thrown upon you, stop everything and take a break.

I am thankful for the funny lessons from the water heater.

I receive too many emails in a day.

I did a one year data analytics experiment, and what I found was shocking.

I peruse 20% of the emails I get, I skim through 40% of them, and I mark 40% as read without opening.

Out of the 20% I peruse, I act on only 10% of them.

In effect, only 10% of all emails require my direct input, 50% are for my info, and 40% are literally spam.

The above data is after politely excluding myself from many email broadcasts. It could have been worse.

I wonder what life would be like if I only got the 10%. I had always felt the 90% serve a purpose, because once in a while they provide something of value in my responses to the 10%.

In reality, it is a productivity hack to keep weeding until you get to the 10% that matters. It is a productivity hack to get emails that need your action, and not emails where you’re only in copy as an ego boost to the sender, or as a habit of how it has always been.

It is going to be a long journey. Luckily, I love long rides.

– Osasu Oviawe

Day: October 18, 2021

The water heater effect

Emails