The Blacks & Whites of Personal Effort Management (A Sneak Peak Into My Book)

Two Metaphors, One Big Idea, and the Dawn of Declarative Effort Management

Every effort is a box, and there are two kinds of boxes.

The first kind is sealed—a black box where the contents don’t matter. Black efforts are clear, actionable, and resemble familiar deeds, such as “mow the lawn” or “prepare lunch.” To deliver them, you don’t deliberate; you act.

But not all efforts are like that.

The second kind of box is white and open — it must be unpacked; it’s too complex to handle at once. “Write Book” is an example. White efforts are too broad to work on directly. Instead, you peek inside and start digging—possibly through multiple layers—until you find something black you can actually deliver on.

This distinction between black and white efforts reflects fundamental approaches to work: ready-to-act tasks versus bigger projects requiring disassembly. While theoretically simple, determining whether an effort is black or white in practice is tricky, and quite often, failing to distinguish them leads to trouble.

Today, we explore two mental models to navigate the nuances between black and white. The ideas presented here are taken from the second chapter of my upcoming book. So, you’re also getting an exclusive peek at what’s inside!