The Time Optimization Playbook

Add 20+ hours to your week ⚙️ 100+ tactics inside

Jul 22, 2025

Many people play life on autopilot.

Every day, you need to choose your strategy.

Option 1: The Default Mode. You follow what everyone else is doing. Grind through your days. Burn out with low-leverage tasks. Eat whatever. Sleep poorly. You feel like you’re stuck and don’t have enough time to accomplish your tasks.

Option 2: The intentional Life. You look for high-leverage systems to get more done in less time. Move with clarity. Build a body that performs, a brain that retains, and a life that compounds.

If you’re here, you’ve chosen Option 2. That’s amazing! Let’s get to work.

I’m Tobi. I write Output Theory, a weekly drop of tiny ideas that compound into a better life. I’m a 23 year old self-optimization addict, trying to do hard things without burning out.

I’m obsessed with building a life that compounds: in knowledge, health, wealth and relationships.

Over the past few years, I’ve:

Self-taught myself to code and landed a banking SWE job, where I lead multi-six-figure projects and mentored multiple devs.
Ranked 1st in my CS class and qualified for academic excellence scholarship while working full-time
Achieved elite cardio-vascular fitness (40 RHR, 90 HRV)
Worked up to 130kg (290lbs) bench press, 160kg (353 lbs) squat and 60kg (132 lbs) weighted pull-up
Built a six-figure net worth before 23 through disciplined financial habits
Surrounded myself with an amazing circle of people.
Read and applied over 80 books.
Reached Japanese N4 level in 3 months (fourth language)
Learned to play the piano at grade 7/8 with one year of professional schooling

This newsletter is where I share all the systems and tactics that helped me do all these things well at the same time.

🎯 The mission

Output Theory is for people who want to:

✅ Get more done with less stress
✅ Design habits that last without relying on motivation
✅ Balance multiple priorities (work, study, health, etc.)
✅ Train and recover like an athlete, even with a desk job
✅ Build wealth in the background while life moves forward
✅ Learn faster with systems that actually work

No fluff. Just high-leverage ideas and systems I found very helpful along my path.

To give you a taste of what’s inside, here’s my personal cheat code library of 100+ time-saving tips that save me over 20 hours every week and form the 80/20 of success in each category.

By applying these, you truly can get way more done in less time.

Enjoy!

🔁 Performance Systems

Block your calendar with single-purpose time slots.
Build tomorrow’s to-do list before you quit today.
Give every task an aggressive timer.
Apply Parkinson’s Law (Work expands to fill the time allocated for it).
Use the first 10 % of a project to hunt the highest-leverage move.
Switch tasks only when stuck; ride the wave when in flow.
Go through e-mail once, maybe twice, a day.
Try to minimize meetings that lack an agenda.
Put your phone on Do Not Disturb.
Disable notifications of most unimportant apps.
Install app blockers like Opal that only allow you to open an app X times a day.
Work from a minimalist “focus phone” or separate work/personal devices.
Limit social-media scrolling + use one-tab rule.
Audiobooks/podcasts while commuting or doing chores.
Pareto filter: look for the 20 % that moves the 80 %.
Weekly review: Check what worked, what didn’t and adjust accordingly.
Use Eisenhower matrix for urgency vs. importance; keep only the top quadrant.
Reduce every big goal to small-size subtasks.
Public commitment / accountability partner for big tasks.
Environment design: E.g. putting a guitar on a stand will make you play more.
Use the two-minute rule to beat inactivity; small momentum beats motivation.
Do deep work first thing in the morning.
Work like a lion: Short burts of energy instead of constant low effort.
When overwhelmed, go for a walk.
Track an entire week to check how you spent your time.
Prepare clothes, breakfast, and gear the night before.
Try to keep your weekday/weekend routines similar.
Instead of a wake alarm, set a wind-down alarm to go to bed on time.
Don’t force brain-heavy work when energy is gone.
Always subtract first before adding a new system.
Outsource anything cheaper than your hourly rate (laundry, meal prep, errands).
If possible, use remote work to cut down on commute time.
Bucket calendar time for recurring activities (travel planning, finance review).
Create a “Not-to-do” list: identify and delete the biggest time-stealing behaviours.
Healthy take-out can sometimes save you a lot of time.

🔧 Tools & Leverage

Use LLM/agent “deep-research” instead of researching something yourself.
Automate repeating tasks with Zapier, IFTTT or Apple Shortcuts.
Use screen-time dashboards and app-limiters for digital boundaries.
Use physical timers instead of apps on your phone / PC.
Cooling mattress, eye mask or white-noise machine for more effective sleep.
Under-desk treadmill or walking pad: Work and activity at the same time.
Watch videos and listen to audiobooks at 2× playback speed.
Use auto-invest platforms for low-cost index funds.
Spaced-repetition software (Anki, RemNote) for memory retention.
Second-brain note apps like Notion. Use your brain for ideas, not for storage.
Meal-prep containers, high-protein shake powder = 60-second meals.
Buy high-quality, durable gear (shoes, laptop, cookware) to avoid re-buys.
Track your sleep using wearables that track sleep.
Use templates for emails, reports or posts.
Net-worth dashboards and investment calculators for quick finance checks.
Smart-home routines: lights dim at 22:00, coffee starts at 06:30.
Only show high-ROI apps on your phone home-screen

New high-leverage ideas, once a week 🙌

Memento mori. Time is finite, spend it like gold.
Use “Hell yes or no” framework for invitations and projects.
Growth mindset: skills are built, not born.
Remember that action leads to motivation (not the other way round).
Reframe your identity: “I’m the kind of person who ___.”
Double-down on strengths. Outsource or ignore most weaknesses.
Check which tasks drain energy and which give energy. Remove the former.
Get paid for outcome, not for time.
Tell people you appreciate them. Value your time with loved ones.
One hour of deep-work beats eight distracted ones.
Sometimes the highest-ROI move is to step back and think.
Avoid lifestyle creep. Buy freedom, not status.
Spend money primarily it to gain time, health, or knowledge / skills.
Remember that one night of drinking usually costs two days.
“Don’t skip twice” rule for any habit.
Simplicity bias: subtract first, automate second, optimize last.
Share what you learn. Public progress forces clarity.
Act on inspiration immediately. It expires fast.
Look at the long-term for every decision. The best results are always achieved that way.

💪 Health & Fitness

Use cues like gym shoes at the door to trigger working out.
Move unhealthy snacks to a hidden place.
Try to get eight hours of sleep. It will make every waking hour more productive.
Leave your phone in another room during the night and if possible during workouts.
Cut caffeine off in the early afternoon.
Eat the same 5-10 healthy and easy meals all the time.
Start the day with a protein-heavy breakfast.
Cut random snacking.
10 000+ daily steps. It’s one of the highest ROI activities for health.
3-4×20-minute strength sessions give 80 % of the gains.
Focus on compound exerccises over isolation exercises
Use moderate loads (8–15 reps) to save time = less rest, more work done.
Whole-body or upper/lower splits to avoid over-complexity.
Listen to audiobooks/podcasts during light cardio.
Under-desk treadmill for NEAT during work.
Stack habits. E.g. stretch while brushing teeth.
Cold shower splash as instant wake-up.
Brush teeth right after dinner to avoid late-night snacking.
Build a home gym or have gym on “commute-route” to cut transit time.
Find a sport that feels like play.
Track body metrics. Fix anything out of the ordinary.
Use the environment: Hide junk food, put healthy food on the table.
Never grocery-shop hungry.
Avoid extreme diets. Calories + protein do 90 % of the work.

📈 Wealth & Investing

Automate monthly buys into broad-market index ETFs.
Start early. Compound interest will do wonders to buy you time back.
Buy, add, seldom sell; minimize decision drag.
Favor ultra-low-fee broker platforms.
Take a monthly net-worth & cash-flow snapshot; adjust course quickly.
Use the rule of 72 to check growth expectations.
Buy and hold great companies for the long term.
Focus on income over expenses. Expenses can only go to 0, income has no limit.
High-quality items > cheap stuff that breaks quickly; lifetime ROI matters.
Cancel unused subscriptions quarterly.
Ignore day-trading, forex, get-rich-quick distractions.
Never hesitate to invest in yourself.
Remote work, travel planning, and tax strategy to reclaim hours and cash.
Create money buckets for saving, spending, investing,..
Set price-to-time ratios. (“Is this worth 1 hour of my life?”)
Read the best books on personal finance (The Psychology of Money is a good one).
Outsource low-value tasks to buy back your most valuable asset—time.