I think about **overhead** a lot. Overhead is the stuff that isn't directly valuable by itself, but simply *has to be done*. A slightly more formal definition: > [!QUOTE] > the ongoing costs of running a business that are not directly tied to producing goods or services From a business perspective - overhead is your Human Resources department, the power bill to keep the lights on, contracts administration, etc. All intensely necessary, but not what the customer cares about. There are necessary enablers, but one (or many) steps removed. I think about overhead from a general *productivity* perspective. Overhead is the cost of [[Context Loading]]. It's the *driving to the store* part of producing physical parts or meals. Overhead is the writing of documentation. It's [[Weekly Review]]s and things of that nature. Overhead **cannot** be avoided entirely (by definition, almost), but it can and should be minimized where possible. This is one of the benefits of [[Task Batching]]. I think one of the problems that stems from [[Simplicity|Complexity]] is the accumulation of overhead, which is why: From [[General Systems Principles]]: 3. The larger a system gets, the more of its resources must be devoted to its everyday maintenance **** # More ## Source - Google's AI overview for the example definition - [[Myself]]