We’ve all been conditioned to measure effort in hours. The more time spent on a task, the greater the effort, or so we believe. It’s why so many people are paid by the hour. Time is easy to count. And it’s the one currency we can never get back.
But is time really the best way to measure effort? Or should we be looking at something else entirely?
We want to compensate someone for their effort, but effort is difficult to measure. After all, your paycheck is an exact value, so we should measure an exact value to calculate it. This is why we so often use time as the measurement of effort. But that overlooks something far more important: results.
If I can accomplish the same outcome in less time, does that make my work worth less? Or does it actually make it more valuable because I’ve freed up my most limited resource, my time?
Take writing an email. I could spend 30 minutes refining every sentence until it’s flawless. Or I could get the same message across, albeit less fluently, in 10 minutes of work. And if I use AI to help me draft it in two minutes, I’ve still met the objective of effective communication, but reclaimed 28 minutes to focus on something else.
This is where technology changes the game. Tools like AI aren’t shortcuts in the negative sense; rather, they’re multipliers. They allow us to produce the same (or better) results in less time.
If the end product meets the need, does it matter whether it took hours of labor or a few minutes of focused thinking and smart use of resources?
My employer or contractor may say that I don't deserve as much compensation because the task did not take my time, even if the results were the same. Thus, we are forced to create the appearance of effort by spending time, even when that means sacrificing efficiency.
But if we value impact, then outcomes outweigh time.
We need to stop equating hours worked with work accomplished. True productivity isn’t about how long something takes; it’s about the quality of the result and the value it delivers.
By focusing on outcomes instead of hours, we not only work smarter, but we also take back control over the one thing we can never replenish.
AI will allow people to do hours of work in minutes. The outcome of that work will be the same.
We must see that outcome as the effort, and not punish people for saving time. Otherwise, we are creating an environment of perpetual deception, where workers are inflating their time and employers are devaluing their effort.