This chart, adapted from xkcd, tells you the amount of time saved over 5 years based on how much time you are able to shave off of the task. For example, a task that you do daily that you are able to reduce by 30 minutes will save 5 weeks of time over 5 years. This chart can also tell you how much time you should spend on trying to optimize so you don’t spend more time than it’s worth.
| How often | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time Shaved Off | 50/day | 5/day | Daily | Weekly | Monthy | Yearly |
| 1 Second | 1 Day | 2 Hours | 30 Minutes | 4 Minutes | 1 Minute | 5 Seconds |
| 5 Seconds | 5 Days | 12 Hours | 2 Hours | 21 Minutes | 5 Minutes | 25 Seconds |
| 30 Seconds | 4 Weeks | 3 Days | 12 Hours | 2 Hours | 30 Minutes | 2 Minutes |
| 1 Minute | 8 Weeks | 6 Days | 1 Day | 4 Hours | 1 Hour | 5 Minutes |
| 5 Minutes | 9 Months | 4 Weeks | 6 Days | 21 Hours | 5 Hours | 25 Minutes |
| 30 Minutes | 6 Months | 5 Weeks | 5 Days | 1 Day | 2 Hours | |
| 1 Hour | 10 Months | 2 Months | 10 Days | 2 Days | 5 Hours | |
| 6 Hours | 2 Months | 2 Weeks | 1 Day | |||
| 1 Day | 8 Weeks | 5 Days |
See also:
- Time saved using keyboard shortcuts is pretty high not because of the amount of time shaved off but because of how frequently I use them
- There’s a knock-on effect that’s not quantified here which is that automation reduces marginal cost of nonautomated tasks
- The second time, write it down because documentation is automation