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opportunity cost.

18 Feb, 2024

i've realised great people think about time, money or work in terms of opportunity cost. "what's the next best way to spend __?". i've been trying to think like that too. for all decisions of life: relationship, career, routine or health decisions. you're given choices.

choices → dilemmas → decisions. the usual cycle. sometimes they are visible (impactful decisions), sometimes they're not (low-impact)

be it your current routine, starting a new business, choosing b/w jobs, investing in a stock, or that splitwise balance that has never been cleared. all of these cost you something. all could've been something. all have a 100 'if i do this' scenarios associated to themselves.

annoying part about choices is that they create distraction: they make it hard for you to stick to that one skill, habit, job or asset, & let it compound over time. choices are compounding's biggest enemies. the 21st century (so far) has it the worst.

it sucks, but all decisions can be simplified by using oc. e.g.

• if taking a sabbatical is more imp than 3 months of salary, do it.
• if 2Y of work matters more than a 2Y degree; don't do that MBA..

there's no definitive science, though. these are just ways to increase efficiency. but efficiency isn't everything. a lot of choices that have led civilisation to where it is, weren't efficient bets. proving that OC, as a standalone, doesn't guarantee result. it's all guess work. sometimes serendipity can take you places efficiency can't.