Signal-to-Noise · Content Throughput
Minutes-consumed vs actionable-insights — flags distraction loops below 10%.
You consume hours of content. Most of it produces zero decisions. This meter divides minutes of input by actionable insights — below 10% the pipe is clogged, you are in a distraction loop, not research.
Part of: Cognitive Throughput
How to use
- Enter minutes of content consumed today (news, social, video, reading).
- Enter the number of decisions or actions that actually changed because of it.
- Efficiency = (insights / (minutes × 0.1)) × 100 — baseline 6 min per insight.
- Below 10% = distraction loop · 10–40% = research · 40%+ = action-ready throughput.
Examples
Before you act on the result
Logic tools help expose a tradeoff, but they cannot see the full situation around the decision. Use the result to slow down the choice and name the assumption that matters most.
If one input drives the answer, test that assumption before treating the result as stable.
Next up
Frequently asked questions
› What counts as an "insight"?
Something that changed a decision, opinion, or action. Feeling informed is not an insight — feeling informed is the noise that masks a clogged pipe.
› Why the 6 min baseline? Troubleshooting
Rough median across studies of information-to-action latency in knowledge work. Adjust downward if you operate in a high-signal environment (research, finance).
Tips & related reading
See the Cognitive Throughput hub →Tips & how-tos
Related tools
Task Switching Tax · Context Overhead
Calculate the hours per day you lose to juggling concurrent projects. Each additional context costs 20% of remaining capacity — CPU-usage view.
Decision Fatigue · Willpower Battery
Model remaining willpower across the day. Every decision draws from the same finite reserve — trivial × 1, moderate × 5, heavy × 10.
Deep Work Capacity · Focus Horizon
Exponential decay model of focus quality. e^(−0.01×min) half-life ≈ 69 minutes — the horizon shows how long until quality drops below usable.