At 5:30 AM this morning, I was half-awake, listening to my daughter talk in her sleep—not quite awake, but not fully asleep either—and I found myself thinking about something that's been gnawing at me for months: can we be too efficient?
I've written nearly 100 Inefficiency Insights articles by now, and in almost every single one, I include a solution to make the inefficiency more efficient—often involving AI, sometimes involving workflow redesign, but always focused on doing more with less. And to be honest, I'm exhausted by it. AI this, AI that. I feel like I've covered it relentlessly throughout 2025, and if I'm feeling this way, I imagine you are too.
So after some deep reflection this morning—fueled by sleep deprivation and the strange clarity that comes with it—I came to a conclusion that might sound heretical coming from someone who writes about inefficiency every week: yes, there is such a thing as being too efficient.
