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Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

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Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#51

Post by wskinner »

pommers wrote: post #48

I've gone down the path of minimising my choices to a small good set for a lot of things. I do this for everything from clothes and shoes to managing my money. 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. T…

What you are describing has been touched on by a few other commenters here, and it really works for me too. Psychology even has fancy terms for why this works: devision fatigue and the paradox of choice.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#52

Post by analog31 »

brlewis wrote: post #41

I use the "sort first" optimization more than non-programmers in my household. 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.

Amusingly, my family has an additional habit: Our shopping list is organized according to the aisles of our preferred supermarket. It really speeds up shopping.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#53

Post by NSAID »

Rjevski wrote: post #40
hak8or wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will bite you in the ass in the future. If you are in the USA, some entities who you should defneitly pay attention to do initial communication only through mail. For example, if the IRS wants something for you they will never call you first. Heck, they defneitly won't send you an email first. Instead, they send you a letter. If you are in the process of identity theft, you will want to keep a close eye on your…

Yep, I imagined it would be a problem in the US. I am in the UK though, where you pretty much don't have to do anything as far as taxes go when you're a simple employee, and if you do have to deal with the taxman, you can do pretty much everything online and get email notifications. However, wouldn't important letters (like urgent communication from the IRS or similar government agency) that could have consequences i…

Not in the US. I've received one or two important letters from the IRS (that is, I unintentionally owed them money) that arrived via regular post. I'm not sure if that speaks to the reliability of the USPS or a lack of imagination on the IRS's part (or maybe the government trusts the government postal service?). Certainly people and businesses do use registered and certified mail, but not everyone.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#54

Post by peterburkimsher »

When someone's walking towards me head-on, I don't do an awkward side-step in sync with them. That usually ensures a collision. I stop still, and close my eyes. They then avoid me.

Taking a bus in a foreign country (e.g. China) without reading the timetable is challenging. So I would get on the first bus going the right direction, and stay on until it deviated from my desired path. Then I'd get off, walk to the next stop, and repeat.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#55

Post by jolmg »

Rjevski wrote: post #34
jolmg wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offset the impact on the environment? I don't think so. How is it harmful to the environment if you wash dishes?

Well you use water. My question was whether paper plates (which I - wrongly - assumed were pretty much free from an environment point of view) had a lower impact than purifying & transporting water (and the maintenance of pipes/etc) needed to wash conventional cutlery.

I might be very ignorant here, but I would think that anything that goes down the drain is very biodegradable (it's food). Sure, it's better for the environment if we didn't contaminate the water with food, but I don't think it can compare to the time it takes for plastic or paper to break down.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#56

Post by rjblackman »

wskinner wrote: post #12

I store physical items in my home in an LRU cache. Items I use all the the time are close to the places where I use them. Less frequently used items are stored further from the place they are used, for example in a closet or the garage. This clashes badly with my roommate, also a programmer, who strongly prefers to store items by category. He will put all the kitchen gadgets on a shelf by the kitchen even if those ga…

Came here to say this. My system is basically an LRU cache also. Also I have a storage system that I can lookup anything I need to use (that I don't use often) that is just labelled boxes and database I can string search. This is really related to a kaizen approach to things that I've read about in various books, things that don't get used get sold off.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#57

Post by kimdotcom »

Rjevski wrote: post #34
jolmg wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offset the impact on the environment? I don't think so. How is it harmful to the environment if you wash dishes?

Well you use water. My question was whether paper plates (which I - wrongly - assumed were pretty much free from an environment point of view) had a lower impact than purifying & transporting water (and the maintenance of pipes/etc) needed to wash conventional cutlery.

And the soap/detergent and food remnants being processed at the sewage plant, or the septic pumping truck that cleans out your tank and transports the waste.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#58

Post by kimdotcom »

Topgamer7 wrote: post #29
Rjevski wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plates are paper so the environmental impact should be relatively low. I agree that the plastic forks are still a problem but haven't really found a solution. I do wonder though, would never having to wash dishes offset the impact of disposable cutlery? Edit: never mind, see below. Apparently paper still has a ton of impact as far as manufacturing it goes (it's not just renewable trees, there are chemicals involved).

The creation of paper is chemically intensive, from processing to dyes to color it. It is not environmentally friendly.

So, no toilet paper and paper towels then?

Just a washcloth and bidet?

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#59

Post by tonyarkles »

serf wrote: post #4

i'm meticulous about checklists, mostly due to programming. I have extensive records, self-kept for a few hours a week, regarding any and all finances, home maintenance, car maintenance, etc. It mostly serves as a form of self-flagellation in the form of financial guilt associated with over-spending, but it's a useful trait to have once-in-a-while. I was a prodigious note-taker in school, too. I think that may be rel…

I was hoping someone else would mention checklists. It’s the closest I’ve come to “automating” a lot of chores. These are kept in org-mode with habits associated with them, so they’re both reoccurring and have a nice chart to show how frequently they’re being done.

As an example, “kitchen - daily”. My partner and I have determined that I’m totally blind to things, so I have a checklist that looks like:

- clean dishes from dishwasher to cupboard

- inspect counters, clockwise starting at dishwasher

- dirty dishes from sink to dishwasher

- if dirty, wash and oil cast iron pans

There’s a bunch of these, one for each living area, and a daily/weekly one for each. They pop up in my schedule with the rest of my consulting tasks, and since I work from home I can just grab one from the day’s master todo list when I need a break.

Re: Ask: How do you apply “programmer’s” efficiency in everyday life things?

#60

Post by projektir »

_8j50 wrote: post #24
projektir wrote: post #8

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.

jamescostian has addressed the point well enough, but to add more to it, there are many ways to state an opinion, but tchaffee chose a very authoritative one, and when you claim something as true with neither evidence nor a good mechanism exploration, I believe you should be called out on it, because way too many claims like this are being made these days and people often end up believing them because they don't stop and think about how poorly the claims are actually supported.
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