Hacker News Reader

Comment by bombcar | Hacker News Reader

A not quite obvious side effect of this - you should be aware of the vast majority of things you do that you are not in the top 5% - and don’t sweat it. Most things in life just need to be done, not done exceptionally well, so spend your effort on the things that matter.

For example, I shop pretty badly at the store, no list, no plan - not worth it to me to develop those, I can spend time elsewhere on the things I can be good at.

View on HN

Using a shopping list would actually save you time to spend elsewhere rather than at a crappy grocery store :)

I find I do groceries at similar speeds with or without a list (if anything, I can often be faster if I just get what seems to make sense rather than hunting out something specific from a list). Where it makes the bigger difference is in reduced food waste (probably the biggest difference) and less money spent.

Part of it is also “do I get basically the same stuff each time” or in my case the grocery store is a block away so it’s “what five items am I grabbing now”.

And even if I did have a list I’d still be bottom 50% I’m sure.

Time is rarely the limiting factor in achieving goals. The vast majority of us kill time with time sinks like playing on our phone or watching TV series - none of which are likely to be life goals.

Instead optimizing for putting productive energy towards real goals and avoiding menial tasks that at best save some time seems like a more optimal strategy.

> The vast majority of us kill time with time sinks like playing on our phone or watching TV series - none of which are likely to be life goals.

People state a goal, but that's not a goal - that's an aspiration. The person doing the above "time wasting" is just setting the actual goal of "relax" and "hedonism", which tbh, is completely fine. What they say their goals are is irrelevant.

Not very many people actually work towards the goal they say they want to achieve. Those who do are quite likely to achieve it.

More time to spend bikeshedding the ultimate grocery list productivity process and integrating a smart refrigerator!

I'll see your bikeshed and raise you a yak shave. Sometimes I just need to be "good enough" at something because it's not my ultimate goal (aka the thing I want to accomplish or be good at).

I'll use a shopping list on the rare occasion where I really need to buy something, and very much am in tune with how to use both digital and paper lists / notes, but with the vast majority of the time, I know what I want to buy or what I want to browse, and that most of the time, having a list makes very little difference to my day to day life.

Sometimes I feel that people try to over-optimise grocery shopping. Basically, my process is simple and works: 1. realise I need more food, 2. grab keys, phone (and maybe wallet) and reusable bags, 3. go to the supermarket, 4. browse the usual stuff I'm interested in and look for what's on sale, 5. grab it off the shelf if I want it.

It's really not that complicated, nor at all stressful to shop without a list. Not everything in life needs a list.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com