

Boost your productivity: kill some variables in your life - philfrasty
http://franzisk.us/2013/02/18/boost-your-productivity-kill-some-variables-in-your-life/

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joubert
While I don't disagree with the general sentiment of simplification by
reducing choices, a pattern that I consider productive emerged and solidified
for me over the years for buying food.

When I first moved to Manhattan, I used to buy food from two deli's that were
within a couple of blocks of my downtown apartment. Then I discovered
FreshDirect and for almost a year ordered food online that got delivered to my
apartment on the 29th floor at a time slot of my choosing. Ultimate efficiency
(including, streamlined periodic re-order).

But then I discovered Whole Foods and would from then on walk to the TriBeCa
store (the largest in Manhattan) every other day. The walk is about 10 minutes
and is a great way to build in exercise, clear the mind, and stumble upon new
things en route. I would usually buy the same stuff, with the occasional
dipping into something new and interesting. The only times when I would change
this pattern was some nights on my way back from violin class - then I would
go to Zabar's or Whole Foods Columbus Circle; or if I crave something at 3am -
then the 24 hour Duane Reade on Wall Street or the deli on John are there to
satisfy me.

Now that I live in Palo Alto, I have a similar, pattern - I walk to Whole
Foods (sometimes taking a detour so that the walk is a little longer) and pick
up the few things I'll need for the next day or two. I never buy food for more
than 3 days out. Alas, there are no decent 24 hour options anywhere but
Manhattan, but I've learned to cope.

 _EDIT: grammar_

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eaurouge
No decent 24-hour options? Safeway is open 24 hours. There's one just off Sand
Hill and another on El Camino.

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joubert
Ha, good to know. What about restaurants with decent food at any hour - that
would be a winner.

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lmm
I find the biggest productivity-killer is feeling uninspired. So I actively
seek out a certain amount of variation and randomness, just to have more
chances at those moments of serendipity that give you a really good idea.

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ineedtosleep
Reminds me of a older video Ze Frank made:
[http://www.zefrank.com/zesblog/archives/2007/11/on_feeling_u...](http://www.zefrank.com/zesblog/archives/2007/11/on_feeling_unin.html)

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jschuur
For a short list of 3 things, I don't think clothing qualifies to be on there
as a priority to simplify. As long as you're not wearing a lot of clothing
with special dry cleaning needs, it's not hard at all to have a little bit of
variety in your closet.

I probably spend less than 20 seconds 'picking out' my attire for the day. Am
I going to shave that down to 5 or 10 because I only have one kind of shirt?
The downside of seeming like that guy who wears the same thing every day is
worse than the extra 10 seconds spent.

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pyre

      | like that guy who wears the same thing every day
    

That describes Steve Jobs, and he was considered fashionable. It just depends
on what you settle on.

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jschuur
There's a difference between how the general public, who only sees celebrities
at high profile events, perceive someone and how the people you're around
every day at the office or home might react.

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capisce
So you're saying those working closely with Steve Jobs thought to themselves
"man, that guy should pick a new polo shirt every now and then".

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sergiotapia
Except: Have some kids, realize that no amount of planning can predict a
fever, a boo-boo in the playground,etc.

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Pezmc
What's a boo boo?

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dmm
It's child-speak for a small injury that children are prone to, such as a cut
or scrape.

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run4yourlives
These three examples seem to me to be coming from a person with ridiculous
amounts of time at their personal disposal. Let me know how this goes once you
have a kid or two.

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pessimizer
The three examples seem to me to be coming from a person with very little
spare time who is trying to maximize that amount.

What part of grocery subscriptions, scheduling what can be scheduled, and
minimizing your variety of clothing takes time away from child-rearing rather
than adding time to it?

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run4yourlives
My point is that you always think you have no time until you have children -
then you realize you had a ton.

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BSousa
I just can't upvote this enough at 2.14am just after putting my kid to bed not
10 minutes ago. Only time I actually have now is between 12:00 and 4:00 am to
do anything in the computer, and even then, still have to feed/pick him up
when needed.

But I don't complain, love the little bugger :)

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PelCasandra
As someone who has been interesting in tweaking personal productivity for a
while I found this post to be rather simplistic. I also do recurring
supermarket orders with a few clicks as probably many does that here already.
Not a big deal. Automatic clothing? Meh.

I was expecting to find more insight into the real variables to kill when
thinking of startup productivity. To implement certain features or not?
Allocate that much energy into that refactoring or not now even if its looks
prettier? Cost vs time of delegation and so on. A more in deep discussion
about what we do when we're actually working I think may trigger much better
results in real productivity.

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PankajGhosh
This article is open-ended but still incomplete. Incomplete in sense that it
does not define a replacement or how to benefit from saved time. It should
say: Boost your productivity by replacing X with Y. If I leave farther from my
workplace, replace "time spent to commute" with "exercise/recreation etc" or
"an extra hour of billing" - "increase in rent".

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polarix
To minimize the subjective speed of time (and thus maximize the perceptual
length), one must constantly vary one's routine [citation needed]. The
disciple of those recommendations will feel freer, and perhaps more creative,
but is sacrificing experience on their alter of efficiency.

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josscrowcroft
Kind-of unrelated: the recent fashion of bolding certain parts of one's blog
posts really turns me off reading them. If you have to tell me which parts of
the text are important, you're not writing properly!

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dasil003
This style has been around online for at least a decade in the wall-of-text
infomercial-style hard-sell brochure sites selling digital information
products, and I presume is some adaptation of previous direct mail marketing
or somesuch. If you're only noticing it now it's just a sign of the times of
"startup" culture going mainstream.

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thomaslutz
Great (but kinda short) overview of useful productivity techniques. I like
this concept of minimalism. Does anybody know some extended articles on this?
(kind of minimalism: best practices)

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driverdan
There really isn't such thing as "minimalism best practices". Minimalism is
personal and the definition varies. I consider myself a minimalist. To me it
means only owning things I need while being practical.

How many shirts or pants does someone _need_? One of each. But unless you want
to do laundry very frequently that's not practical. So I own enough that I do
laundry about once a week.

One of the other things I do is buy high end products. If I'm going to own
something I want it to be reliable and last a long time. I want to be able to
depend upon it.

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4rgento
In the case of clothing, limiting your choices seems just like a patch to the
problem. When ever I find myself looking for an especific shirt I try to focus
on the real problem: find a shirt. Same for shoping.

The more you condition the solution to a problem the harder it is to find it.
Sometimes the problem is the solution I propose to the problem.

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arb99
It probably takes longer to have to wash/dry 'only a handful of tshirts and
jeans' very often than it does to have a whole wardrobe full and take
(literally) an extra few seconds deciding what to wear every day

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nthj
I think the idea is that you own a dozen of the same outfit, which solves the
laundry problem.

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meej
"Grocery-shopping normally takes hours and is a pretty redundant activity."

Really? I offer that "hours" may be an exaggeration here. It doesn't match my
experience, anyway.

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agilo
Where/how do you order groceries online in North America?

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greyboy
It's not exactly the same, but here is an example:

[http://www.harristeeter.com/shopping/express_lane/policies.a...](http://www.harristeeter.com/shopping/express_lane/policies.aspx)

You order online and then pull up to a curbside box and they bring out your
order. I'm sure other area's have similar options.

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peter_dee
def agree to the time-scheduling point! I also use really specific time-slots
for doing tasks that distract me from important stuff!

