#1319: Automation

“I spend a lot of time on this task. I should write a program automating it!”

[[Panel titled “Theory:” at the top contains a line plot, with “work” on the y-axis and “time” on the x-axis. Two curves indicate “work on the original task” eventually being permanently reduced by temporarily spending more work on coding, and then having the produced automation take over.]]

[[Panel titled “Reality:” at the top contains a similar line plot, but the line for “work on the original task” does not decrease. The second curve, which starts out as “writing code”, becomes “debugging”, “rethinking”, and then “ongoing development”. The line for work on the original task becomes dotted, with the label “no time for original task anymore.”]]