A Case Against Optimizing Your Life

A Case Against Optimizing(ˈäptəˌmīz) Your Life

By Leo Babauta

Many people I know are on a quest(kwest) to optimize their lives — some of my favorite people in the world will spend days trying to perfect a productivity system, get things automated(ˈôtəˌmāt), or find the perfect software for anything they’re doing. They are on a continual(kənˈtinyo͞oəl) search for the perfect diet(ˈdī-it), the perfect work routine(ro͞oˈtēn), the perfect travel(ˈtravəl) setup(ˈsedˌəp).

Optimizing can take quite a bit of time and energy(ˈenərjē).

What would happen if we let go of optimizing? Who would we be without the idea that we should optimize everything?

One idea is that if we decided not to optimize everything, we’d stop caring(ˈke(ə)riNG), stop trying to make things better, and live suboptimal(səbˈäptəməl) lives. But I know myself pretty(ˈpritē) well — I will always care, even if I am not trying to optimize. I will always do my best, which is different than optimizing — it’s taking care and giving love, even if things aren’t optimized. I believe(bəˈlēv) most of you are this way, pouring(pôr) your hearts into something with pure(pyo͝or) love, without needing to make everything perfect.

So why shouldn’t we optimize? And what would it be like if we didn’t?

Give me a few moments to make the case against optimizing, and present(ˈprezənt) an alternative(ôlˈtərnətiv) way.

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https://zenhabits.net/unoptimizing/