productivity tool: race
My first thought: well, that's putting it rather bluntly... Oh, ze's probably referring to the competitive time thing.
And I will do better with training.
Bahahah. Your current neurochemical high will wear off in 2 days.
Bahahah. Your current neurochemical high will wear off in 2 days.
Current? The event happened months ago, I only wrote it down now, I hope it's obvious you can't keep this up 24/7. A silly example: I learned to put on and take off my jacket while walking the stairs. Saves me few seconds every time I go out. It's a habit now and, most importantly, it was fun to pick that habit up. It's boring to cleanup a desk. It's fun to try to cleanup a desk with only one hand within 20 seconds.
The story is just a feed for thought, it's up to the reader to figure out what works for him.
Your current neurochemical high will wear off in 2 days.
Moreover, guess what follows manic phases... :-/
A friend of mine always takes 30 seconds showers. Over the years, that has saved him many hours of spare time.
You people are all weird. Showers are time I enjoy spending.
It's the drying up that I need to optimize, and that's not dependent on how long I was in the shower.
Drying optimization: Leave the bathroom door open and the shower curtain partway pulled so humidity doesn't collect in the room. Have an oversized bath sheet in reach (you can get good ones at Costco). When you're done showering, towel-dry hair, then the rest of you, then comb your hair so it doesn't stick. Without humidity in the room, you don't keep sweating so you don't feel clammy. You can get dressed immediately if you're pressed for time. If you're like me and hate putting dry clothes on damp skin, find something you can do for ~15 minutes at the computer while you air-dry the rest of the way. (ETA: making/eating breakfast is good for this since you probably have to do it anyway.)
(also, I like showers too, but I hate the time lost. I compromised by moving most of my morning routine into the shower, e.g. shaving.)
Edit: And I have no idea how people manage five minute showers. It takes me longer than that just to lather and rinse my hair.
You obviously don't have children.
With children there is always something one can do in any single minute between other tasks. Talk and play with (aka educate) them. Move some toys or other things nearer to where they belong (my incremental house keeping strategy). Prepare some preparable items for lunch or school or trip or paperwork (thus moving them incrementally toward their place in time).
ADDED: To make this comparable to your story:
2:00 To son 2: "You have to leave for school in two minutes."
1:57 To son 1: "Finish your breakfast and get ready for school."
1:53: To son 3+4: "Get on my arms." Scrambling.
1:45: Carrying them upstairs.
1:33: Handing son 3 some pieces of clothing from a chair where it was prepared earlier. "Please put these on".
1:27: Changing diaper for son 4, helping him with body and pullover. Telling them where we will go today. Leaving them.
0:40: Taking the remaining clothes downstairs where they will be put on later when we leave the house.
0:30: To son 1: "Please get up and put your dish into the sink." Nudging him to actually get up.
0:22: To son 2: "Have you got you lunchbox and bottle?" - "Yes" - "Put on your helmet."
0:15: While waiting for him to finish picking up some matchbox cars and putting them into the "up" basket.
0:05: Hugging son 2: "Good bye and a happy day. See you in the evening."
0:00: Door closes.
OK. Granted. Usually it will not be exactly two minutes but you get the idea. There are lots of routine tasks running concurrently interspersed with cognitive tasks like telling them what they have to expect soon and answering questions.
Inspired by recent batch of productivity posts, I wrote my short story down. To a reasonable extent, this story is real.