Productivity tool: race!

wwa

Inspired by recent batch of productivity posts, I wrote my short story down. To a reasonable extent, this story is real.

2:00	As usual, I put my breakfast into the microwave and set it to 2:00.
1:58	It took two seconds for a train of though to start:
	"Waste, again. Again!"
	"What am I supposed to do this entire time? Stare at the clock?"
	"Useless and boring, but can't start any serious work or thought in time-frame this short"
	"Why don't I switch to Soylent, hire a maid or just eat the damn thing cold?"
1:53	It took me five seconds to notice and derail that train on the basis of "Been there, done that, nothing significant changed since"
	But this time something went differently.
1:52	"What do I get to lose if I just try to do something, anything?"
	"Food's gonna get cold. Also you can't multitask that much, so no thinking either."
	"So what. If I don't make it in time I'll just reheat that food and at least one other thing will be done already. And didn't I just say I can't think of anything serious that fast anyway?"
	It took me 16 seconds to scan today's TODO for anything I had any chance to accomplish within ninety-something seconds.
	"Work. Takes too long to start, hardware limitation"
	"Read... what? Would take a while to find something new and short enough. I could prepare next time, not now"
	...
	"A shower. Usually takes me at least 5 minutes... but why?"
1:36	I rushed to the bathroom.
	"Skip everything that can be skipped, but nothing important"
	Leaving clothes where I stand.
	"No time to fiddle with the faucet. Just turn it on roughly around the point where it's supposed to be"
	A bit too cold. So what.
	"No time to select soap/shampoo/gel. Just apply top-to-bottom whatever comes up first."
	Blargh, hair conditioner. Bad idea.
	"Note to self: sort this stuff"
	Top-to-bottom, fast moves, keep accurate.
	"Come on, come on, come on! I can't believe the microwave didn't finish yet!"
	Head too. Don't skip anything important, remember? One last jet of water and I grab the towel.
	"No need to dry the hair so much, you're not going out anytime soon"
	I throw the towel back on the hanger and run to the kitchen. Did it beep already and I didn't hear it? Did it broke?
0:42	"What?!"
0:41	- What?!
0:20	For 21 seconds of my Saved Time I allowed myself to stare at the clock to make sure time flows at the same rate it used to.
	"It took me 54 seconds to take an okay shower. A minute and 40 seconds ago I didn't believe it was possible."
	"Not productive."
	"What else can I do?"
	"Now we're talking!"
0:001	I spent the last 20 seconds to build a mental model of what just happened and store it for later experiments...
BEEP!
	... and then it hit me, again. I made breakfast, took a shower and thought of something new and possibly significant, all within the time-frame so short I didn't believe possible. I could multitask that much. And I will do better with training.

Inspired by recent batch of productivity posts, I wrote my short story down. To a reasonable extent, this story is real.

2:00	As usual, I put my breakfast into the microwave and set it to 2:00.
1:58	It took two seconds for a train of though to start:
	"Waste, again. Again!"
	"What am I supposed to do this entire time? Stare at the clock?"
	"Useless and boring, but can't start any serious work or thought in time-frame this short"
	"Why don't I switch to Soylent, hire a maid or just eat the damn thing cold?"
1:53	It took me five seconds to notice and derail that train on the basis of "Been there, done that, nothing significant changed since"
	But this time something went differently.
1:52	"What do I get to lose if I just try to do something, anything?"
	"Food's gonna get cold. Also you can't multitask that much, so no thinking either."
	"So what. If I don't make it in time I'll just reheat that food and at least one other thing will be done already. And didn't I just say I can't think of anything serious that fast anyway?"
	It took me 16 seconds to scan today's TODO for anything I had any chance to accomplish within ninety-something seconds.
	"Work. Takes too long to start, hardware limitation"
	"Read... what? Would take a while to find something new and short enough. I could prepare next time, not now"
	...
	"A shower. Usually takes me at least 5 minutes... but why?"
1:36	I rushed to the bathroom.
	"Skip everything that can be skipped, but nothing important"
	Leaving clothes where I stand.
	"No time to fiddle with the faucet. Just turn it on roughly around the point where it's supposed to be"
	A bit too cold. So what.
	"No time to select soap/shampoo/gel. Just apply top-to-bottom whatever comes up first."
	Blargh, hair conditioner. Bad idea.
	"Note to self: sort this stuff"
	Top-to-bottom, fast moves, keep accurate.
	"Come on, come on, come on! I can't believe the microwave didn't finish yet!"
	Head too. Don't skip anything important, remember? One last jet of water and I grab the towel.
	"No need to dry the hair so much, you're not going out anytime soon"
	I throw the towel back on the hanger and run to the kitchen. Did it beep already and I didn't hear it? Did it broke?
0:42	"What?!"
0:41	- What?!
0:20	For 21 seconds of my Saved Time I allowed myself to stare at the clock to make sure time flows at the same rate it used to.
	"It took me 54 seconds to take an okay shower. A minute and 40 seconds ago I didn't believe it was possible."
	"Not productive."
	"What else can I do?"
	"Now we're talking!"
0:001	I spent the last 20 seconds to build a mental model of what just happened and store it for later experiments...
BEEP!
	... and then it hit me, again. I made breakfast, took a shower and thought of something new and possibly significant, all within the time-frame so short I didn't believe possible. I could multitask that much. And I will do better with training.

Bahahah. Your current neurochemical high will wear off in 2 days.

This should be written in bold red letters on the fourth cover of every motivation and productivity book or guide.

Right underneath it should be: ...so establish new habits fast, while it's still easy!

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Productivity tool: race!

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Productivity tool: race!

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