Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#71

Post by javajosh » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 5:35 PM UTC

operatorius wrote: post #34

javajosh wrote: post #27

This one might seem trivial, but I start cleaning by picking up the floor first. This makes it easier to move around, which is a prerequisite for almost every other task.

How bad does the situation have to be that picking up stuff from the ground enables you to move freely?

It doesn't take much! A shoe in the middle of a hallway makes it slightly more trouble to move past without tripping, or a box under a desk makes it slightly harder to vacuum. Over the course of cleaning, each time you think about something like that is a small source of stress that makes the task less pleasant.

It's the same thing in a codebase. If your functions mutate arguments, even a little, or if the code is not formatted consistently, the resistance to movement increases, and tasks become less pleasant. If you wait for real spaghetti code it's already too late; if you're used to chaotic code, you won't understand what I'm talking about.

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#72

Post by roryisok » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 7:02 PM UTC

jlebar wrote: post #15

roryisok wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard people sing the praises of rice cookers before and I just don't get it. I cook rice in a pot and it takes barely any effort. The most time consuming steps are measuring out rice and cleaning the pot afterwards, and you need to do both of those things with a rice cooker? In fact there might be more parts to clean?

I always burn or undercook rice when I use a stove. For me, the rice cooker is amazing, because it comes out perfect every time with no trying on my part. I don't know how you do it without, you must be magic.

I measure 1 cup rice to 2 cups water (often boiling, from the kettle), check it every now and then, and when it's got "holes" - gaps where water has bubbled and evaporated - I turn off the heat underneath. I never add salt. I can't remember the last time I've burned it but I've made sticky, underdone rice plenty of times. Maybe I'm just not that picky?

Edit: I use a non stick pan, tefal ingenio pans with removable handles which are a great time saver. Nothing ever sticks to them! So maybe I do burn rice and I just don't realise

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#73

Post by roryisok » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 7:05 PM UTC

chadcmulligan wrote: post #40

galfarragem wrote: post #35

Definitely trash your TV. It's amazing how much extra time you'll get. Freeing 1h a day adds up to 7h weekly.

1 hour a day = 9 x 40 hour work weeks a year

Sounds amazing when you put it like that. I could be putting nine weeks into a project instead of watching Netflix

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#74

Post by roryisok » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 7:09 PM UTC

javajosh wrote: post #71

operatorius wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How bad does the situation have to be that picking up stuff from the ground enables you to move freely?

It doesn't take much! A shoe in the middle of a hallway makes it slightly more trouble to move past without tripping, or a box under a desk makes it slightly harder to vacuum. Over the course of cleaning, each time you think about something like that is a small source of stress that makes the task less pleasant. It's the same thing in a codebase. If your functions mutate arguments, even a little, or if the code is no…

It's sort of like test driven vacuuming ;)

I love the comparison to codebases. I just wish I could commit the perfect tidy version of the room to a git repo and then reset to that every night. :)

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#75

Post by fgeiger » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 8:58 PM UTC

cup-of-tea wrote: post #54

hyperpallium wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I googled, the consensus was to wash-as-you-go. My interpretation is that cooking is an act of creation, and when accomplished, it's over. You don't feel like doing washing up, a non-creation act, because that energy/enthusiasm is gone. Whereas if you wash as you go, as part of the task, it also uses the energy of creation. So: not literally time-saving , but enthusiasm-efficiency .

I reckon it also does save time. The reason is there's plenty of "dead time" during cooking. Waiting for water to boil, sauces to reduce etc. But those periods are not long enough to do much else and your hands will generally be too dirty to do even small tasks. The best use of those little sections of time is to wash up.

Pipelining.

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#76

Post by evnn » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 9:45 PM UTC

evolve2k wrote: post #7

I've been aspiring to a philosophy I call "event based processing" (I know the term has other meanings in computing) or alternatively "Zero Impact Activities". Regardless of the name the concept is that in undertaking daily tasks the tidy step is completed as part of untaking the task (eliminating a separate tidy phase). Eg as a Parent I was constantly tidying or managing the kids to tidy the shoes area near the from…

Garbage collection vs stack allocation

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#77

Post by andymoe » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 9:48 PM UTC

roryisok wrote: post #59

andymoe wrote: post #8

Find a full-service laundry place and pay them to do it. I've got two kids, and the four of us go through a shit-ton of laundry. If you can afford it [1], and you're in a city or neighborhood where one is available, it saves hours every week. [1] We pay maybe 40-50 bucks a week. We don't use a service and just drag it down the street to the local laundromat once or twice a week.

My nearest is 20 minutes away, probably more effort to bag everything up and ship it out than do it in house. Last time we changed the washing machine we got one that could handle a much bigger load with a higher rpm spin. Clothes come out less wet and go straight into the tumble dryer

I dunno, you still have to fold it ;)

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#78

Post by evolve2k » Sat, Mar 03, 2018, 11:25 PM UTC

roryisok wrote: post #14

evolve2k wrote: post #10

What I'm calling the "Bachelor Socks Pattern". Go out and buy multiple 6-in-one packs of the same socks (Most economical with black/blue business style socks). Go all out and get like 8 packs @ ~$5 each. At $40 cost you replace all your socks with a single type and color and have a massive oversupply (about 3 weeks worth in the above calc, prob more than you need really). No need to sort, just keep them in a big bask…

This is a great tip, thanks! Of course, it only reduces my stock sorting load by 25%, can't force the wife and two girls to wear only grey socks for the rest of their lives :)

I can't remember the name but there was an online sock company for girls where all the socks were deliberately different ("odd") (left and right). They were all different but fashionable matched in a kid friendly way. Another way to achieve removing sock finding and sorting process :)

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#79

Post by rabboRubble » Sun, Mar 04, 2018, 2:24 AM UTC

* Make bed only once a week.

* Do not use dishes that can not be washed in a dishwasher. Save hand wash only for infrequent and fancy meals.

* Reduce the amount of crap you have so that you have less crap to clean (used the Marie Kondo method).

* Use effective cleaning agents (hint, research all the things that vinegar can be used for)

* Learn how to use a slow cooker.

* Keep things clean to begin with. Massively dirty stuff takes longer to clean.

* Clutter hides dirt, grime, and missing things. Kill it with fire.

* Avoid stainless steel appliances. They are the devil to keep looking clean.

* The kitchen area is a not a fashion area, it is a work area and should be equipped with hardy things that can be cleaned aggressively and quickly. Fancy breakable crap slows you down.

Re: Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips?

#80

Post by evolve2k » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:12 AM UTC

evolve2k wrote: post #78

roryisok wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a great tip, thanks! Of course, it only reduces my stock sorting load by 25%, can't force the wife and two girls to wear only grey socks for the rest of their lives :)

I can't remember the name but there was an online sock company for girls where all the socks were deliberately different ("odd") (left and right). They were all different but fashionable matched in a kid friendly way. Another way to achieve removing sock finding and sorting process :)

FWIW a quick search revealed there are various "mismatched" socks options for girls and women - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_16?k=mismatch...