Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Time Plus Impulse
Recently I read a completely distressing article about the environmental impact of all the packaging created by our new e-commerce world: “the demand for instant delivery, in particular, creates challenges for trucking companies trying to be efficient. Instead of taking big truckloads to single retailers they now make more scattershot deliveries.”
The article made me rethink how I feel about the efficiency of e-commerce. I mean, from an organizational standpoint, what could be better than being able to instantly order whatever you need, right?
Not so fast. In fact, that is the problem—it is too fast. It feels good, quickly crossing To Do items off of our list, but are we really being efficient? Were those things even on our list? If we had to wait, or go to a store to buy something, would we decide that some of those “needs” weren’t really necessary at all?
If you notice that the ink is low in your printer while you are working on your taxes, is it really so efficient to stop what you are doing and order ink?
If you are supposed to be clearing your e-mail box and a message from Zappos reminds you that your son mentioned wanting new sneakers this morning at breakfast, is it really efficient to stop clearing your in-box to sneaker shop at Zappos?
One of my favorite books of the last few years is Sarah Lazarovic’s A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy, a graphic meditation on the year she spent not shopping. Instead, Lazarovic paints and contemplates all the things she wants. By slowing down the process, she resists the impulse to buy a bunch of things she really didn’t need. Her advice is to add time to impulse. Simple, but effective.
Like being distracted by texts and tweets, constantly hopping over to Amazon (or wherever) to buy one thing at a time is inefficient. If you stopped doing your taxes to buy ink, you might not remember that you also need paper and file folders, but if you put it on your list, later on you can order all those things in one fell swoop. By the same token, if you wait and talk to your son at dinner about his sneakers, it may turn out that his current pair are totally fine, he’s just angling for the new LeBrons.
So add time to impulse. It can save you money (LeBrons don’t come cheap) and slowing down can actually be more efficient. Think of streamlining: fewer orders, less stuff, less packaging. Sometimes, what is good for outside is good for the inside too.