Fewer Left Turns

Reader,

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Some people doom scroll. I go down the rabbit hole of research -- usually now with Chat.

I was prepping a speaker application for the American Trucking Association — a bit of a stretch, I know, so I did my homework. And down the rabbit hole I went.

It's where I discovered a powerful story about delivery trucks.

At UPS, drivers were working incredibly hard — and still falling behind.

More packages.
More pressure.
More accidents.
More fuel costs.

Leadership could've said:
“Move faster.”
“Try harder.”
“Do more.”

UPS asked a different question:

Where is the work harder than it needs to be?

You can relate, right? You work hard every day and it keeps getting harder. More demands. More decisions. With head in hand, you declare: Why is it all so damn hard?

From that question, UPS studied the routes and found something surprising.

Left turns.

Left turns meant:
-waiting at lights
-idling in traffic
-crossing lanes
-more accidents
-more fuel burned

Hundreds of tiny delays…every single day...for every single route!

The solution: UPS redesigned routes to minimize left turns.

Not eliminate effort.

Just remove friction.

And the results were staggering:

10 million gallons of fuel saved every year
fewer accidents
faster routes
less driver fatigue
and roughly $300–$400 million in annual operational savings

WHAT?!#

Most of us wouldn't have taken the time to ask the question. Most of us couldn't have imagined a left turn could amount to so much fundamental change.

All from fewer left turns.

I love this story because it challenges something most of us have simply accepted:

'Hard work is supposed to feel hard.'

That’s simply a lie you tell yourself out of frustration and from looking back on yesterday.

You’ve normalize friction and say: ‘That’s how it has always been.’

You keep turning left when there’s an easier route.

What if you don’t have an effort problem? What if you have too many left turns?

Meetings that don’t need to exist.
That layer of approval no one questions.
That report no one reads — so many just get sent and sit unopened.
That decision you insist on owning that your team could handle.
That process everyone complains about… but no one redesigns.

Tiny things.

They compound.

Until every day feels heavier than it should.

Not because you’re incapable.

Because you’re carrying unnecessary weight.

Resilience isn’t grinding through bad systems…but we do it out of habit.

It’s having the awareness to notice:
“This shouldn’t be this hard.”

And the imagination to ask:
“What if there’s an easier way?”

Not lazier. Smarter.

Not less ambitious. More intentional.

This week, don’t add another goal.

Don’t download another productivity app or book.