Simplifying is better than Optimizing

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Rusty Thompson on June 1st, 2018

I could spend hours pouring over spending choices to make sure I'm optimizing where every penny goes, but the time invested may not always be worth the effort. For example, I just spent over an hour searching 8 different websites to save $9.32 on a hotel!

Ten minutes spent to distinguish between a bad deal and a good one is time well spent. However, hours spent to distinguish between a great deal and marginally better one deal is wasted effort. (Like my habit of searching for gas stations to save .03 per gallon!) Rather than obsessing over the optimal choice in every situation, simplify so there's more time to focus on the decisions that matter. Simplifying doesn't mean not improving. It's intentionally making the choice to decide what's good enough, focus there, and forget the rest.

Reduce stress, free more energy, and open up your time for what's most important. When I added everything up, the small savings on the hotel just wasn't worth an hour missed with my wife and son. Where could you simplify your life?

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