Any tips for improving efficiency in general?
<p>I have been doing simple programming challenges all day, trying to learn and practice. I however, always seems to fail at efficiency. Without using built_in code (such as the encode method), is there anyway that I could improve my program's efficiency (my efficiency in general)?</p>

<pre><code>import string
alph = string.ascii_lowercase
def encrypt(text):

    encryption = ""

    for character in text:

        index = 0
        shift = 0
        for letter in alph:                       
            if letter == character:

                if index &gt; 23:
                    shift = abs(26 - (index+3))
                    encryption += alph[shift]
                    break
                shift = index + 3
                encryption += alph[shift]

            index += 1

    return encryption

def decrypt(text):

    decryption = ""

    for character in text:

        index = 0
        shift = 0
        for letter in alph:                       
            if letter == character:

                if index &lt; 3:
                    shift = abs(26 - (index+3))
                    decryption += alph[shift]
                    break
                shift = index - 3
                decryption += alph[shift]

            index += 1

    return decryption
</code></pre>
