Optimizing for Inconvenience

I’m working to make things a lot harder on myself.

Many of the books on my shelves, in part or in whole, focus on getting more things done in less time. Increasing our productivity is the goal, because then we can squeeze as much out of life as possible, right?

Well, I’m embarking on an experiment. What are some ways I can trade convenience for experience? Instead of getting more things done, how can I get more life done?

Let’s have some fun with this. What follows isn’t a comprehensive list, but here are some things I’m going to try:

• Buy as much of my produce as possible from farmer’s markets. This will make me more intentional about my local trips, and I’ll meet new and interesting people. My family will enjoy fresh vegetables and fruits while supporting local farmers.
• Put my phone away at night, turn off the news, and search through my bookshelves for a title I haven’t thought of in a long time. Scan through the table of contents or, better yet, open it to a random page and start reading. I might rediscover something, or find an interesting passage for the first time.
• Put away my Apple Watch, with all its notifications and tracking and modernity, and start wearing a wind-up wristwatch. (Note to self: Set a daily reminder on your Apple Watch to wind your mechanical watch …)
• Rely less on text messages and email in my personal life. Pick up the phone and call people.
• Taking that one step further, handwrite an actual letter and mail it to someone. They won’t be able to read my scribbling, but it’s the thought that counts.
• At least once a week, give the Roomba a rest and use the push vacuum to clean the floors. All while singing, “Walking The Floor Over You.”
• And speaking of music … instead of scrolling through the vast library on my iPhone every time I want to hear a tune, flip through my vinyl collection and give a classic LP a spin on the record player (I’m looking at you, “Sing Along With Mitch”).
• When I have a question about something, call a friend instead of immediately going to Google. Upside: This will spark more conversations. Downside: This will quickly become annoying to my friends. (“You can look that up just as fast as I can, buddy. Stop calling me. Especially at 2 a.m.”)

Author John Eldredge was a recent guest on the “The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast” (see note below about my podcast obsession). When we turn to the internet with a question, “Google answers you with three million results in less than one second,” he said. “Over time, that conditions the soul to a sort of immediate response … the saints of ages past would have been horrified at that.”

He concludes with, “Learning to linger, learning to be still, learning to listen is really important for human souls.”

Disclaimer: I opened that podcast episode on my iPhone, viewed the automated transcript, and used the built-in search capabilities to quickly find the quote I was looking for …

I’ve learned over time that your Not To Do list is as important as your To Do list. So here are some things I’m definitely not trading in:

• Podcasts (I’m addicted to the wide range of insights and information they bring me)
• My coffee maker (I can still envision Pawpaw Osbourn’s tall percolating aluminum kettle, but I have no idea how that thing made coffee.)
• Indoor plumbing (this remains today’s best technological advancement)
• Online grocery order and pick up (I’ve gone too far to look back)

Optimizing for experience over convenience puts the focus on the present instead of the future. It’s about relishing the journey more than the destination. My friend Jerry Ellis didn’t walk the Trail of Tears in reverse so he could get back to Fort Payne from Oklahoma as quickly and efficiently as possible and write a Pulitzer Prize-nominated book. He did it to connect with the struggles of his Cherokee ancestors and to meet fascinating people along the modern Trail. It was about the next step, not the final step.

Do you have suggestions for how I can make life a little richer by making it a little more difficult? Email me your thoughts to … No, wait a minute. Write me a letter and mail it to:

The Groundhog

Attn: Inconvenient Editor

P.O. Box 107

Mentone, AL 35984

I’ll write you back. Even though you won’t be able to read my scribbling.