1 What Is EQ?
The Effort Quotient (EQ) measures the value-per-unit-effort of any task.
A higher score means a better payoff for the work you’ll invest.
2 Quick Formula
log₂(T + 1) · (E + I)EQ = ───────────────────────────── × Pₛᵤ𝚌𝚌 / 1.4(1 + min(T,5) × X) · R^0.8Symbol | Range | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
T | 1-10 | Time-band (1 ≈ ≤ 3 h … 10 ≈ ≥ 2 mo) (log-damped) |
E | 0-5 | Energy/effort drain |
I | 0-5 | Need / intrinsic pull |
X | 0-5 | Polish bar (capped by T ≤ 5) |
R | 1-5 | External friction (soft exponent 0.8) |
Pₛᵤ𝚌𝚌 | 0.60-1.00 | Probability of success (risk slider) |
3 Gate Legend (colour cues)
Band | Colour | Meaning | Next move |
|---|---|---|---|
≥ 1.00 | Brown / deep-green | Prime payoff | Ship now. |
0.60-0.99 | Mid-green | Solid, minor drag | Tweak X or R, raise P. |
0.30-0.59 | Teal | Viable but stressed | Drop X or clear one blocker. |
0.10-0.29 | Pale blue | High effort, low gain | Rescope or boost need. |
< 0.10 | Grey-blue | Busy-work / rabbit-hole | Defer, delegate, or delete. |
4 Slider Effects in Plain English
Slider | +1 tick does… | –1 tick does… |
|---|---|---|
T (Time) | Adds scope; payoff rises slowly | Break into sprints, quicker feedback |
E (Energy) | Boosts payoff if I is high | Automate or delegate grunt work |
I (Need) | Directly raises payoff | Question why it’s on the list |
X (Polish) | Biggest cliff! Doubles denominator | Ship rough-cut, iterate later |
R (Friction) | Softly halves score | Pre-book approvals, clear deps |
Pₛᵤ𝚌𝚌 | Linear boost/penalty | Prototype, gather data, derisk |
5 Reading Your Score – Cheat-Sheet
EQ score | Meaning | Typical action |
|---|---|---|
≥ 1.00 | Effort ≥ value 1-for-1 | Lock scope & go. |
0.60-0.99 | Good ROI | Trim drag factors. |
0.30-0.59 | Borderline | Cheapest lever (X or R). |
0.10-0.29 | Poor | Rescope or raise need. |
< 0.10 | Busy-work | Defer or delete. |
6 Example: Data-Pipeline Refactor
Baseline sliders: T 5, E 4, I 3, X 2, R 3, P 0.70
Baseline EQ = 0.34
Tornado Sensitivity (±1 tick)
Slider | Δ EQ | Insight |
|---|---|---|
X | +0.28 / –0.12 | Biggest lift — drop polish. |
R | +0.19 / –0.11 | Unblock stakeholder next. |
I | ±0.05 | Exec urgency helps. |
E | ±0.05 | Extra manpower matches urgency bump. |
P | ±0.03 | Derisk nudges score. |
T | +0.04 / –0.03 | Extra time ≪ impact of X/R. |
Recipe: Lower X → 1 or clear one blocker → EQ ≈ 0.62 (solid). Do both → ≈ 0.81 (green).
7 Plug-and-Play Sheet Formula
=LET(T,A2, E,B2, I,C2, X,D2, R,E2, P,F2,LOG(T+1,2)*(E+I)/((1+MIN(T,5)*X)*R^0.8)*P/1.4)Add conditional formatting:
≥ 1.0 → brown/green
0.30-0.99 → teal
else → blue
8 Daily Workflow
Jot sliders for tasks ≥ 30 min.
Colour-check: Green → go, Teal → tweak, Blue → shrink or shelve.
Tornado (opt.): Attack fattest bar.
Review weekly or when scope changes.
9 One-liner Tracker Template
Task “_____” — EQ = __.Next lift: lower X to 1 → EQ ≈ __.Copy-paste, fill blanks, and let the numbers nudge your instinct.
Scores include the risk multiplier Pₛᵤ𝚌𝚌 (e.g., 0.34 = 34 % of ideal payoff after discounting risk).
