If you were to open a brand new jar of peanut butter... and try to get all the peanut butter out of the jar... how long would it take?
You can use any tools you want so long as you bear in mind that the purpose is to recover the peanut butter from the jar... so washing it down the drain does not help in accomplishing that task.
I reckon how long it would take largely depends on your definition of... "all the peanut butter."
Surely... within 3... or 4 minutes you could get basically all the peanut butter out of the jar... If you looked in the jar you would still see streaks... and ribbons of peanut butter all over the inside of the... and all of it put together would not add up to enough to make a respectable PB Sandwich.
How much longer would it take to get it so that not one visible streak of peanut butter remained?
I have never tried it... and my estimate is maybe about an hour.
So let us say you have the patience... and determination to get every last bit of peanut butter out of the jar.
Did you get it all?
Have you done a... "perfect"... job of getting the peanut butter out?
Smell the jar.
It still smells like peanut butter... that is a sign that there are still chemical traces of peanut butter left behind.
Remember... your task... purpose was to recover the peanut butter from the jar... not necessarily to use it for making a sandwich.. or anything useful... just to recover it... and get it out of the jar.
Now... if your definition of... "all"... the peanut butter is something like... "all the peanut butter that is useful in making sandwiches"... then you could easily do an excellent job of getting.. "all"... the peanut butter out in 3... or 4 minutes.
If your definition is all the visible peanut butter... then you could probably do a perfect job in about an hour.
Part of the point here is that you will start seeing diminishing returns on your effort after the first 3... or 4 minutes.
If your definition of... "all"... the peanut butter is every last chemical trace of the stuff... it may take considerably longer... and require specialized tools... or techniques.
Remember... trying to recover the peanut butter implies that you are not contaminating it.
Again... the longer you keep at it... and the closer you get to... "perfect"... the more the returns on your effort diminish.
This principle can be applied to almost any area of life.
When you do anything... you get about 80% or so of your results with relative ease... after that... each incremental advance you make toward 100% will increase the amount of time... effort... and other resources needed to get there.
And the rate of increase keeps increasing... as the rate of return decreases.
So the real first step toward greater productivity is to decide what perfect means to you for any given task... if you can settle for 80%-85% of... "perfect"... in other words... a high standard of... "Excellence"... you will get a lot more done.
Personally... I would rather have 10... or 15 projects completed... and only 85% EXCELLENT... than to have just one project done to absolute perfection.
Even if that one project is so immaculate that it makes angels weep.
May You Enjoy A Productive And Prosperous Day!
