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Why are Adults so busy?

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Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#311

Post by ChuckMcM »

That was fun, we had a similar sort of discussion with our kids as they were growing up. My eldest was especially anxious to get to the level 'adult' and start her life. It wasn't everything she hoped it would be.

I think its easy to pick apart the specific numbers but it is also a good way to think about how you want to spend your time vs how you do by default. And that will let you make decisions about optimizations and time/money trade offs. For example you can just eat Soylent and not cook at all (not a good tradeoff in my opinion) or automate bill paying and bill management. Living in a place without lawn care requirements vs living with some amount of garden.

It also points out why married people (and people in committed relationships) have "more" free time as many of these jobs can be done for 2 people in the domicile in the same time as 1 person. So you can split them up and complete them in parallel, freeing up time.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#312

Post by the-dude »

dominotw wrote: post #220
the-dude wrote: post #4

I have scaled back years ago: ditched the car ( does away with a whole class of problems/bills ). When I had a job no more than 32hrs. No TV, no cable. Do my groceries in combination with going the postal office, while biking/walking. I rent, do not own. Try to own as little as possible. I call it the 'small life'. Lots of people in town know me, I know them, build a pretty social life. I am not going back.

> No TV, no cable. > Lots of people in town know me, I know them, build a pretty social life. I love TV( youtube, Netflix, amazon etc). I grew up with state TV and there is no stopping me now. There are all kinds of amazing stuff on TV, there is no limit to how much you can explore the world. Eg: This week, I time traveled back to soviet union in the 50's got to look their communal houses, social classes, dress codes…

That is really great for you. Maybe you should also get a radio so you can become a good listener too.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#313

Post by noir_lord »

brightball wrote: post #262
sapphireblue wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wonder how we manage to stay busy given that most home tasks (dishwashing, laundry, cleaning (roombas) and even cooking - see multicooker devices) are already automated, with "doing laundry" meaning merely loading and unloading the washing machine. I think you have a good point about idle time being gadgeted away. Also I think there is a tremendous potential in automation of physical labor (including remaining…

Doing laundry is still the most time consuming task because it's done sequentially. If there's any build up at all it throw it in the wash, wait, move it to the drier, wait, unload, fold and put away. Multiple loads means a multi hour time commitment to being on stand by to transfer and continue the process. The programmer in me actually has resorted to throwing everything in the car and driving to a laundry mat if I…

I have a washer and dryer in one unit, I use its quick wash-dry cycle and if I dont overload I just take it out ans fold it, haven't ironed anything in about 6 months!

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#314

Post by rgoddard »

patates wrote: post #201
pps43 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> from someone older, who was in the 80s There was the same amount of time, but it was allocated differently. There were phone calls. If somebody calls you on the phone, you stop doing what you're doing and talk to them. Apart from that, time was scheduled in larger chunks, with fever context switches. You watch a movie start to finish, not a bunch of 2 minute Youtube videos. You spend an evening printing photos in t…

What wouldn't I give to have such attention span! I can't even watch a movie these days (months? um, years?). Yesterday I alt-tabbed to chrome and opened HN while hearing the movie that I was in the middle of watching. Yes, I have a PC connected to my TV! What is wrong with me?! I want to be able to read a non-technical book fully and I can't and I'm very unhappy about this whole situation.

Realize that it is a skill that can be trained. The current environment does encourages short attention spans. Working on your attention span needs to be deliberately. First understand your current ability. What is the longest show you can watch without feeling the need to engage in a different activity? How many pages you can read in a book before becoming distracted?

Work on engaging in those activities a little bit longer then you currently can, and slowly increase the duration. Use a timer to set a limit. This would need to be done with regularity and focus.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#315

Post by et-al »

emodendroket wrote: post #159
thebigspacefuck wrote: post #152

I keep catching myself thinking or using the excuse I have no time, but I mostly spend my time on the internet or watching TV. Some nights I do the dishes or actually go for a walk, go grocery shopping, but mostly I'm just hanging on, making sure I'm ready for he next day. I'm freaking addicted to information and the internet, which leave me feeling frantic. I forgo sleeping for the internet and it brings me little p…

I'm guessing that many people who are now alive would have just sat in front of the TV instead if there were no Internet.

To a certain degree. When the Chuck Norris infomercial came on after midnight, you knew it was time to go to bed. With the internet there's always something interesting. And around midnight, the people in Europe are up, so you could start chatting with them.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#316

Post by justinator »

anexprogrammer wrote: post #280
sapphireblue wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wonder how we manage to stay busy given that most home tasks (dishwashing, laundry, cleaning (roombas) and even cooking - see multicooker devices) are already automated, with "doing laundry" meaning merely loading and unloading the washing machine. I think you have a good point about idle time being gadgeted away. Also I think there is a tremendous potential in automation of physical labor (including remaining…

Laundry - we have an order of magnitude more clothes than in the 1900s, and wash them much more frequently - far beyond what's needed to not be dirty or smelly. Kids have the same amount, and variety, as adults. Any time saved is far more than compensated for by sheer quantity and frequency compared to olden days. Dishwashers help with the bulk, but you end up with more dishes in the household (not worth firing up th…

> So track record says whatever future inventions bring us > to save time, work (and chores) will expand to fill time > available, and we'll be even more fragmented, with even > more stuff.

Well then, just don't buy the stuff! Exercise some self-control.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#317

Post by AnimalMuppet »

ghaff wrote: post #293
Spoom wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered why someone didn't build a vertical washer-dryer combo, about the size of a fridge, where the clothes in the washer portion at the top simply drop into the dryer portion at the bottom (possibly assisted by a mechanical push) and start the dryer portion automatically. Bonus if you can then push the dry clothes out the side into a waiting basket, but not totally necessary. Perhaps stability is a fa…

There are all-in one units using a single drum. I've never investigated but my understanding is that they're pitched primarily for more space-constrained situations. (Example: http://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Washers-Dryers-All-In-... ) I'm not sure of the tradeoffs. If you have the space, doing laundry while you're in the house for other reasons and transferring manually is the least of the effort.

The problem with those units is that you can't start a new load in the washer before the previous load finishes in the dryer, because there's only one drum. So if you want to run several loads, it takes twice as long.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#318

Post by SubiculumCode »

justinator wrote: post #309
SubiculumCode wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair to yourself, kids often disappoint their parents, but this is more on the parents. An anecdote: My dad was driven nuts by how much time I wasted as a kid and teen on gaming, and how it seemed that I had few productive interests,never built anything, and stopped projects as soon as I got bored.. He wanted me to be obsessed with something, but few teens are obsessed with anything but not being lonely, social…

I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind sharing the type of financial situation you grew up in? I don't remember wasting that much time as a teenager, since if I wanted something, I needed to get a job and work for it. If there was any chance of my bettering the type of situation I grew up on, I had to make sure my grades were amazing. I had to deal with someone else's serious drug addiction in the family, and tr…

I grew up in a neighborhood of dirt and chicken coops. My parents made less than 12k $ per year as I grew up. My parents never attended college and did not know the first thing about it. My privileges included a stable family that pushed me to succeed where they had not, and an above average IQ.

I got through college with my family on student loans, stipends, and food stamps.And you know what, my kids will have opportunities I never even dreamed of. There is no better feeling.

You decide for yourself what my anecdote is worth.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#319

Post by MikeTV »

Xcelerate wrote: post #190

As someone who just finished grad school, I'm preparing my future for "minimum maintenance" so that way I can have lots of free time for interesting projects. Shopping, cleaning, commuting, and house maintenance are not on my list of interesting projects, so I would like to minimize the time spent doing these things. * Shopping — Don't shop, except for the necessities (and when you need them, buy in bulk). I generall…

Doing just this. For me, a Monolithic Dome figured out to be the lowest maintenance. Concrete, for all the reasons you mentioned, plus an added benefit of no roof needing repair. Exterior maintenance is yearly power washing, only if it looks dirty. Considered stamped concrete flooring, but decided on vinyl plank. City housing restrictions mean my commute is 20min instead of 5, but on the flipside there is a nice Amish-run bulk food store nearby.

Re: Why are Adults so busy?

#320

Post by noir_lord »

ghaff wrote: post #293
Spoom wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered why someone didn't build a vertical washer-dryer combo, about the size of a fridge, where the clothes in the washer portion at the top simply drop into the dryer portion at the bottom (possibly assisted by a mechanical push) and start the dryer portion automatically. Bonus if you can then push the dry clothes out the side into a waiting basket, but not totally necessary. Perhaps stability is a fa…

There are all-in one units using a single drum. I've never investigated but my understanding is that they're pitched primarily for more space-constrained situations. (Example: http://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Washers-Dryers-All-In-... ) I'm not sure of the tradeoffs. If you have the space, doing laundry while you're in the house for other reasons and transferring manually is the least of the effort.

I have one and it's awesome, Europe has smaller homes do they are much more common here I think.
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