I re-read an interesting factoid about Einstein the other day. The rumor is that he owned 5 identical suits so that he did not have to waste any time deciding what to wear each day. The little amount of mental effort that was saved could, hypothetically, be used for greater things. I have a feeling that this is not true (his owning 5 identical suits) but it still got me thinking a bit about the decisions I make on daily basis and if I could adopt this concept into my personal life. If I were honest with myself, I would confess that I am not doing this to save mental processing time for better things but rather I would be doing this as I really hate deciding.
I am bombarded it seems each day with decisions. What should I wear? Should I put cream in my coffee or go with just sugar? What should I eat for breakfast? What should I eat for lunch? Etc., etc., etc. It is not the deciding so much as it is the feeling that I get with me second guessing myself with my decision. Was that the best choice? Would it have been better if I had chosen differently? Etc., etc., etc. If I could just pre-decide some basic things then I could put some forethought into them and then just not think about it any more except perhaps once in a while to review new options that were not there when the initial decision was made.
Take choosing whether to have cream in my coffee or not for example. I have decided (rather jokingly) that I will only have cream in my coffee if it is past 2 PM. I make the first cups of coffee each morning for the wife and I so I get to (have to) choose if I want cream or not. I will actually think about this, ponder what my wants are and how I am feeling that morning. Cream in my coffee is a take it or leave it thing for me so I really have no idea why I even choose (say compared to flipping a coin). Since the wife is usually still in bed and asleep, I can take as long as I like to decide this. However, the wife usually makes the second cups of coffee and she will inevitably yell from the kitchen to ask me if I want cream or not. She usually has the creamer in hand ready to pour so I have to decide fast. It is too much pressure (like driving up to a drive through at a fast food joint where your car has barely come to a stop before the ask for you order). For some reason, even though this is just cream, I feel a little pressured. So, I jokingly said one day that I would only have cream in my coffee if it was after 2 PM (I just pulled that time out of the air). Now, however, the wife never asks me if I want cream in my coffee since she knows the answer. I pre-decided it. I will point out that she still puts cream in my coffee occasionally out of habit but I do not mind really as I didn’t have to decide.
I have been wondering what else I can decide once and for all in my life. I was researching (ok, googling) if there were 3 meals that you could each each day, every day, forever, that were healthy. I could not find any site that could help me out. I also think about my hair style. If you know me at all, dear reader, you know I have had many hair styles. From long, “80’s hair band” type hair to (recently) shaved to 1/8” hair. If I could decide on a hair style then I would not have to think about it. Perhaps I could shave my head down to 1/8” on the first Saturday of each month. My hair grows about a 1/2” per month so the longest it would get would be 5/8” give or take. There is virtually no grooming needed and it does save time in the shower not to mention some financial savings on shampoo, conditioner and water heating.
So I think I will take some time and pre-decide a few things in my life. I will try to keep you up to date on how it goes. I wonder if I could get a deal on suits if I buy 5 at a time?
Jon
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