Mo Tiwari's Efficiency Tips for Engineers — Feb 22, 2025

A guide to maximizing productivity and effectiveness as an engineer, based on years of experience in top tech companies and research institutions.

High-level Strategy

The foundation of efficiency starts with clarity about what matters most. Start by:

• Determining what's truly important - ask yourself what you want to say you've accomplished on your deathbed
• Writing down your key goals and keeping them visible on your desk (e.g., spending time with family, maintaining health through exercise, completing crucial work projects)
• Ruthlessly cutting everything else that doesn't align with these priorities

Profile Your Time

Just as you'd profile code to optimize performance, profile your own time usage:

• Use tools like RescueTime to track your productivity (top performers achieve around 80% productivity, while good weeks average ~65%)
• Evaluate if your time allocation matches your stated goals
• Build systems to optimize your most common activities
• Calculate your time's value and make decisions accordingly

Strategic Framework

Success comes from applying the right approach to different types of work:

Engineering vs. Research

• Engineering work:
  • Problem and solution are known
  • Focus on execution time
  • Prioritize highest value-to-time ratio tasks
  • Get end-to-end systems working first
• Research work:
  • Problem and solution are unknown
  • Expect most attempts to fail
  • Focus on failing fast and learning
  • Think "monkey on a pedestal" - be willing to challenge assumptions

Operational Excellence

Implement these practical systems to boost your efficiency:

• Schedule regular breaks
• Try dopamine fasts - after 15 minutes of boredom, work becomes appealing
• Practice meditation for mental clarity
• Use time-blocking with buffer periods
• Conduct regular energy audits
• Apply the Pomodoro technique for focused work sessions

Technical Efficiency

• Master your tools:
  • Learn terminal shortcuts
  • Memorize IDE hotkeys
  • Practice mouseless computing
• Optimize your workspace:
  • Use multiple screens effectively
  • Set up one-click meeting systems
  • Document frequent communications for reuse

Behavioral Best Practices

• Challenge "imaginary rules" limiting your efficiency
• Develop speed-reading skills (try tools like Swiftread)
• Use speech-to-text when appropriate
• Memorize commonly used functions and theorems
• Print important papers for focused reading
• Follow the 2-minute rule: if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately

The Efficiency Cheatsheet

• Say "no" liberally - especially to unnecessary meetings
• Distinguish between tasks that need optimization vs. satisfaction
• Maintain a consistent daily routine
• Stay open to feedback
• Never stop reading and learning

Further Reading

To deepen your understanding of efficiency and productivity:

• "Principles" by Ray Dalio
• "Atomic Habits" by James Clear
• "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey
• "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss
• "Deep Work" by Cal Newport

Author: Mo Tiwari (mo@openai.com)
Originally presented at Taro, July 15, 2024