Wearing the tape out

I watched the Star Wars movies all the time as a kid. It feels like I watched them tens of thousands of times. Certainly enough to “wear out the tapes” I imagine. But of course it was probably less than 100 times. More likely less than 50. Yet when it comes to our memory of events, the difference between “A million times” and “a couple dozen times” aren’t often too far apart.

We tend to overestimate the actual effort we put forth, and underestimate how quickly we can learn from repetition. So if the work you’re doing requires repetition – remember that you may not need to “wear the tape out” to get there.