This reminds me of a bad habit I was able to drop pretty thoroughly almost as soon as I realized what I was doing (which took some decades). I would imagine things to be annoyed at—what if someone said some infuriating thing, then what would my reaction be? I didn’t some up with a substitute thing to think about, but I believe that just dropping that one (or cutting it off fast if it starts) has improved my quality of life somewhat.
Admittedly, that’s low-hanging fruit, but just identifying and getting rid of the activities which give you nothing is a start.
And I’ll put in a nice word for Sock Pro—toothed plastic rings which mean you’ll never need to sort your socks again, link from Kool Tools, the online descendant of the Whole Earth Catalog.
Here’s a hard question: How do you evaluate the value of trying new things?
Once when I was with Marcello he went to Costco and bought a rather large amount of brand new socks—all the same type, so that he didn’t have to worry about mixing and matching. This made my impression of his instrumental rationality go up. (I’m sure a lot of people have different socks for different purposes, but it’s something that I probably would have failed to optimize.)
Added: Thanks for linking to Kool Tools! I might travel the country for a year or two while trying to be as light as possible, and that site had a few items that seem like they would be pretty useful.
I do this as well. Clearly this calls for a poll! How many of us avoid sock-sorting by buying bulk quantities of identical socks? (Or the alternative solution.)
Once when I was with Marcello he went to Costco and bought a rather large amount of brand new socks—all the same type, so that he didn’t have to worry about mixing and matching.
It’s a practical move. Myself I have three roughly equal collections of socks—identical black ones, identical sports ones and assorted others (mostly either gifts or particularly high quality pairs that I use for marathons and long runs in general).
This reminds me of a bad habit I was able to drop pretty thoroughly almost as soon as I realized what I was doing (which took some decades). I would imagine things to be annoyed at—what if someone said some infuriating thing, then what would my reaction be? I didn’t some up with a substitute thing to think about, but I believe that just dropping that one (or cutting it off fast if it starts) has improved my quality of life somewhat.
Admittedly, that’s low-hanging fruit, but just identifying and getting rid of the activities which give you nothing is a start.
And I’ll put in a nice word for Sock Pro—toothed plastic rings which mean you’ll never need to sort your socks again, link from Kool Tools, the online descendant of the Whole Earth Catalog.
Here’s a hard question: How do you evaluate the value of trying new things?
Once when I was with Marcello he went to Costco and bought a rather large amount of brand new socks—all the same type, so that he didn’t have to worry about mixing and matching. This made my impression of his instrumental rationality go up. (I’m sure a lot of people have different socks for different purposes, but it’s something that I probably would have failed to optimize.)
Added: Thanks for linking to Kool Tools! I might travel the country for a year or two while trying to be as light as possible, and that site had a few items that seem like they would be pretty useful.
I am still mostly wearing socks from the massive online bulk order of identical boot socks I made four or five years ago..
I do this too, and my brother and I have communal socks. I hadn’t thought of ordering online. Good idea.
I do this as well. Clearly this calls for a poll! How many of us avoid sock-sorting by buying bulk quantities of identical socks? (Or the alternative solution.)
I avoid sock-sorting by not buying or wearing socks, which is still more efficient.
I do this!
It’s a practical move. Myself I have three roughly equal collections of socks—identical black ones, identical sports ones and assorted others (mostly either gifts or particularly high quality pairs that I use for marathons and long runs in general).