I have two types of Berocca multivitamin tablets: the effervescent and the film-coated.
The effervescent tablets take more time to consume. You need to put one in a glass of water. Wait for it to dissolve. Then drink the entire glass.
The film-coated tablets, on the other hand, are extremely efficient. You pop one in your mouth and take a sip of water after it. There’s no preparation to it. No ritual.
If you’re looking for ways to be efficient, the film-coated tablets would be the option to go for.
I, for one, would choose effervescence over efficiency.
Why?
Because I enjoy the ritual that comes with preparing my Berocca drink. There’s no other reason for it than that.
We often seek efficiency to the point of compromising the things we enjoy, even when we’re only shaving off seconds from our routines.
The obsession with efficiency doesn’t always make us more efficient.
It can cause more worry and stress than we would like to live with, simply because we’ve made efficiency an end unto itself, instead of a means to an end.
If we’d like to cut down on the time we spend doing routine tasks so we can get to spend more time doing the stuff we enjoy, wouldn’t it make sense to go for options that make routine tasks more enjoyable?
Whenever you’re facing two options, don’t make efficiency your only criterion.
Think of the levels of joy each option brings.
Joy is an important criterion in life. At least in my book.
2 replies on “Efficiency and Effervescence”
You are right, you made me open my eyes to see that i do sacrifice joy for the the sake of efficiency, but its very hard to put my joyment first i think i’ll feel guilty to ;p
thanks for the great article.
yours, Eiman
Hi Eiman,
I think guilt is the greatest obstacle on our path to happiness. We feel like we don’t deserve to be happy, or should put other people’s happiness before our own.
I’ll be writing a lot more on guilt and the (damaging) moral values we are living by.
Thank you for the feedback!