productivity – sethlewis.ie

AI Beats Us At Our Own Game

I have a friend who works for NASA. He told me that the International Space Station has always struggled with a mould problem. He said everything that goes into orbit is fully sterilised and decontaminated, except for one thing: the people. Among all the clean and tidy machines, the people remain organic. Alive. Chock-full of microorganisms and a million other mysteries including (but not limited to) mould. Even when we leave the planet, we bring our mess with us.

The solution to the mould problem on the ISS is obvious. All we need to do is replace the people with robots. We’re told that AI is already more intelligent than we are, and getting better and more efficient at everything we do. Robots wouldn’t need sleeping quarters, wastewater recycling units, exercise facilities, showers, or a kitchen. All that human-oriented space on the space station could be re-purposed and used far more efficiently.

The Indispensable Inefficiency of Prayer

The to-do list is long—it’s always long—and the day only has so many hours. If we want to maximise our time on this planet, we have to prioritise. We can’t do everything, and it’s important to “make the most of every opportunity”, as the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:16. But what does this mean? How does it look?

For a Christian, one of the most effective uses of our time is an activity that looks to most people—and maybe quite often to ourselves—like one of the most inefficient. And yet, if we really believe what we say we believe, and if we really trust our Saviour to guide us, then it is indispensable:

Prayer.

One Day Leads To Another

I have learned over the years to temper my expectations about what can actually be accomplished in a single day. I’m not proud of this—I would be far happier if I could tell you that after consistently exceeding my own expectations of productivity I’ve had to adjust them in the other direction. The days are quick, though, and before I know it the morning is almost over and then after lunch the hours fly and it’s evening and I should really get to bed or I’ll be cross in the morning with my sleep-stealing self. I would love to do great things and see great progress today, but it’s hard to fit all those big, shiny things into one little square on the calendar.