It seems to me that the form of yak shaving you describe is a maintenance problem. The things in your life that are broken, are broken because they require maintenance that hasn’t been performed. Until it suddenly becomes an urgent necessity.
You can fix that by doing all the required yak shaving...maybe. But the most dedicated yak shaving routine will fail if your yak herd has expanded until its maintenance cost exceeds all available time.
Instead, own fewer yaks. Figure out what in your environment requires maintenance. Then automate it, outsource it, or get rid of it. Join a makerspace instead of having your own workbench. Electronicise and (preferably) automate all your bills. Get rid of anything that 1. doesn’t see regular use, and 2. is prone to requiring shaving. Hire a housekeeper. Rent an apartment where management is responsible for things that break instead of you—if you can afford it, rent one that does valet trash and laundry. Get amazon prime and get used to waiting two days for anything you have to buy. Then never go shopping for non-perishables in person again. If you live somewhere that you can get groceries delivered, do that too.
Edit: Use services like Fancyhands for fourth quadrant stuff that you nonetheless still want done.
A great time to do this sort of life-cleaning is when you move—it’s easier to overcome the “but what if I need it?” mental roadblock if you can reply “but if I junk it, it’s that much less I have to pack and unpack.” Make laziness work for you.
(not coincidentally, I am doing literally this right now)
I’m curious—what have you outsourced to Fancy Hands? I know in theory that I should be outsourcing stuff to services like that, but I really don’t know what stuff I can effectively outsource in practice.
Honestly, mostly phone calls. It sounds silly, but I have a paralytic fear of calling strangers, and that leads me to procrastinate far more than is normal even for me. Making someone else do things like (for today’s example) call around to find someone who will take a couch I’m trying to donate ensures that it doesn’t stay in the middle of the spare room for 6-12 months while I dither.
It seems to me that the form of yak shaving you describe is a maintenance problem. The things in your life that are broken, are broken because they require maintenance that hasn’t been performed. Until it suddenly becomes an urgent necessity.
You can fix that by doing all the required yak shaving...maybe. But the most dedicated yak shaving routine will fail if your yak herd has expanded until its maintenance cost exceeds all available time.
Instead, own fewer yaks. Figure out what in your environment requires maintenance. Then automate it, outsource it, or get rid of it. Join a makerspace instead of having your own workbench. Electronicise and (preferably) automate all your bills. Get rid of anything that 1. doesn’t see regular use, and 2. is prone to requiring shaving. Hire a housekeeper. Rent an apartment where management is responsible for things that break instead of you—if you can afford it, rent one that does valet trash and laundry. Get amazon prime and get used to waiting two days for anything you have to buy. Then never go shopping for non-perishables in person again. If you live somewhere that you can get groceries delivered, do that too.
Edit: Use services like Fancyhands for fourth quadrant stuff that you nonetheless still want done.
A great time to do this sort of life-cleaning is when you move—it’s easier to overcome the “but what if I need it?” mental roadblock if you can reply “but if I junk it, it’s that much less I have to pack and unpack.” Make laziness work for you.
(not coincidentally, I am doing literally this right now)
I’m curious—what have you outsourced to Fancy Hands? I know in theory that I should be outsourcing stuff to services like that, but I really don’t know what stuff I can effectively outsource in practice.
Honestly, mostly phone calls. It sounds silly, but I have a paralytic fear of calling strangers, and that leads me to procrastinate far more than is normal even for me. Making someone else do things like (for today’s example) call around to find someone who will take a couch I’m trying to donate ensures that it doesn’t stay in the middle of the spare room for 6-12 months while I dither.