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For example, my technique for putting away groceries is to take the contents out and set them next to the grocery bags, then sort them by where they're going (kitchen fridge, pantry closet, etc.). This is faster than repeatedly taking one or two items out of a bag and bringing them where they go.
It's really quite stunning how many people have difficulty thinking of things in terms of birds and turtles.
I have very similar instincts, and it weirds me out sometimes. I have an in-depth understanding of the efficiency difference of the direction I mow my lawn (NW/SE is the best for the shape of the yard, but you can't do that every time. N/S is second most efficient. E/W is third and I can't stand it), and am constantly wondering if there is a better way to snowblow my driveway. Past that, I feel myself optimizing path…
I, too, spend an unreasonable amount of thought on mowing optimization.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Such claims are very major and significant, but rarely have strong evidence behind them, and as such I would recommend that they are not made, and that the OP continues to do whatever it is that they find efficient.
Opinion does not require evidence. He was commenting based on experience.
To better demonstrate why this opinion isn't worth a lot without strong evidence, one can imagine almost the same words, but arguing for the exact opposite side and notice how neither argument is more helpful than the other. For example, consider if the original comment read:
Task oriented people actually tend to be better organized and get more things done. The tunnel vision that goal oriented people have prevents them from performing efficiently enough to meet their goals. Try timing a few things and see for yourself. Not thinking about things might save you one or two seconds total. But you spent more time proceeding with an inefficient plan. Just think a little more. You'll find you are faster, and you spend less time repeating the same motions. Actions require effort and energy. Save that for the stuff that really matters.
Yesterday, I was building a set of shelves in my garage. These are pretty beefy to hold hardware and tools and stuff, so I was building them with a 2x4 frame and plywood on top. Three levels, and I wanted them to be 10 feet by 2 feet, so I had ten foot front and back rails, with shorter stringers every two feet. So I had six rails, and six stringers per level, total of 18.
For the rails, I measured one, marking center lines for each stringer. Then I lined up all six, and drew the lines across all of them with my square. Probably saved fifteen minutes compared to marking and measuring each one individually.
For the stringers, each one needed to be 21 inches, and you really want them to all be as close to exactly the same as you can get, or else your the frame gets all out of true. If you try to measure each one and cut them one at a time, you never get them just right, and it takes forever. So I figured the first one, and screwed down a stop block to my miter saw bench, to make a jig. Now I don't have to measure, I just slide the 2x4 down to the stop, hold it against the fence, and zip zip zip, I cut the whole batch in a couple minutes, all just the same length.
Going onto the assembly, I've got my rails all marked out, and my stringers all cut, so I can start screwing things together. The hard part is lining things up, holding it all together, and trying to get the screws started and driven without anything shifting. So I went down my rails and started all 24 screws on each rail where I had the center lines started. Works best if you drive them just through, so there's like a sixteenth of the point sticking out. Now I've just got to line up the stringer square and hit the already started screw with my driver. It also helps keep everything square and reduce walking around if you do them in a snake pattern, so start on one end, screw to one rail, go to the other rail and screw the other end, stay on that rail and start the next stringer, then go to the other side.
Last, getting to the installation, the really fiddly part is trying to get everything lined up and level, while you're trying to hold the assembled shelf up and then screw it all in. Real PITA if you're working alone. I was screwing them into the wall studs against the back wall of the garage, with a few posts on the unsupported front. So I cut some cheater blocks out of scrap 2x4, that would span two studs, and that the shelf could sit on as I'm installing it. Measure where the shelf should fall on one stud, and screw one side of the cheater there. Then take a small level to level it up before screwing the other side. Then use a four foot level to mark where the other cheater should go, and level that up. Even better, I was in a corner on one side, so I had another stud I put a third cheater on, leveled up kitty-corner with the others. Now when I pick up the whole heavy shelf, I just set it on my blocks, and I've only got to worry about supporting one corner as I'm getting it leveled and attached to my outside post. When that corner is level, everything else is level. Repeat three times for the three shelves.
I do this kind of decomposition and optimization in everything, and always have, way before I even saw a computer...
Clothes are simple. 10 shirts that are either black or grey. Three shirts that are work branded. close to ten pairs of chinos and jeans (all work appropriate, some kevlar lined for motorbikes) Bulk undies and socks, all patterned so they are easy to pair up. Two pairs of shorts for summer and a pair of sports shorts for sport and the beach. A couple of suits for the odd time I need them (weddings and interviews)
For getting stuff done like cooking or making stuff, I operate with the minimum number of "tools". For actual tools, this means a cordless drill and screwdriver, couple of power tools, a good screwdriver set, a spanner set and a socket set. For the kitchen it means three good knives, the minimum set of kitchen utensils I need to make everything I make regularly, one good pan and two good big tiered pots that I can steam stuff in.
Financially I assign resources as they come in. I split my paycheck into fun money (pub and lunches/dinners out), food money (going to the shops and making stuff myself), savings and bills. All my bills are direct debited and the amount I put in to paying bills is higher than I worked out it would cost me over the course of the year. This means i only ever have to think about how much of the fun money and food money I have when making decisions.
By minimising my options when it comes to making decisions, I minimise my time working through all the options to make them.
The closet was something of a mess—assorted things used with varying frequency. After purging what obviously could go, I bought identical boxes that would fit in the shelves of the closets and labelled them with letters.
I then created an index. Each box got a new note in a dedicated Evernote notebook named according to its label, and in the body of the note I listed its contents.
My closet now had full text search. This made it ridiculously easy to find any random item I might need. I just had to type the name of the thing, and the matching note's name would tell me what box to look in.
Also, when I needed to find something, I always added an "x" on a newline under the thing when I retrieved it. This updated the last modified time of the note. After awhile, the boxes with the oldest last modified times became prime targets for future purging. It also made it very obvious when frequently used items should get dedicated space with quick access.
Hard to measure but I believe I think more about how things might fail than other family members.
I've seen similar - Them: "You're too pessimistic" vs. Me: "You haven't thought this all the way through". There's a balance to be struck though, because often worrying too much about things that don't happen or saying "I told you so" when they do only really serves to annoy people.