30 To-not-dos

Random Observation/Comment #763: First off, do half as much. Second, make those half things you do twice as awesome. Quality over quantity.

Why this List?

I have no shortage of lists, especially “to do” ones. I take pleasure in adding things to them so I can satisfyingly check them off. As I think through all that I can do, I also consider what I don’t want to do. Eliminating the negative is just as useful of an activity. After writing the list, I realized there’s a large chunk that falls under the category “I can probably learn how to do this, but I don’t want to mess it up.” Another category is “I’m going to delegate the wife to do this one.”

  1. Yard work – I do not enjoy it. I easily get hives and I have a minor fear that I’ll accidentally cut off my toes when mowing.
  2. House design decisions – I can contribute and have an opinion, but I’m already in acceptance that this is not something I will own.
  3. Painting / putting up wallpaper – While we’ve done some of this before, I am at a stage in my life where I’ll do more harm than good adding anything to a wall.
  4. Getting rid of wasp nests – Gross. I’m afraid I’ll piss off a vengeful Freddy Kruger one and it’ll haunt my dreams.
  5. Fixing the car – Even though my dad and brother are obsessed with cars, I would rather take care of my road bike. I don’t know how to change oils and rotate tires.
  6. Plumbing – You do not want to mess up a plumbing job. Water damage would be super bad.
  7. Electrical – Even as an electrical engineer, I can design microchip layouts, but don’t ask me to put up a new ceiling fan.
  8. Selling things on fb marketplace – I would rather take my fingers and jam them in my eyes. I can’t stand the scams and negotiation on honestly something I just want out the house. Hard pass.
  9. Detailed cleaning of house – This is why we have weekly cleaning service. I’m not taking a rag to the floor and cleaning the toilet on a regular basis.
  10. Detailed car cleaning – We just hired these brothers that are still in college and make their own cleaning soaps. Getting a fine detail twice or three times a year seems well worth it.
  11. Fad diets – Who wouldn’t like losing a few pounds here and there? I think the healthy way is to just eat more veggies and eat less. I’d purposefully stay away from anything overly advertised.
  12. Going on rollercoasters – I never really got into the pure six flags rollercoaster rides. I barely like laying down on a moving hammock.
  13. Going to clubs – Maybe just once a year if I’m visiting somewhere like Berlin and need to see a modern bubble party.
  14. Drinking bad tasting or bad quality beer/wine/liquor – I am not drinking to get drunk anymore. It’s not worth the extra calories for a mediocre drink. We also have money now to spend a little more for higher quality.
  15. Joining management positions – I don’t mind being a leader or filling out feedback forms (even though these get tedious), but I absolutely have a principal individual contributor mindset. I am less interested in selling and justifying budgets on a regular basis.
  16. Pulling all nighters for work – If I’m doing an all nighter, I probably didn’t plan well or push back enough to manage timelines and expectations. I did do an all nighter playing Diablo Immortal last week.
  17. Keeping around toxic people – Sometimes bad influences are just that. If you’re not mutually seeing value then I would be more selective with my time and efforts to maintain a relationship.
  18. Petty fights – It’s worth the effort to avoid some fights and conflicts. I’m okay caving in on certain things just to keep the peace.
  19. Speeding / Driving reckless driving – Since driving is probablyt he riskiest and most dangerous thing I do by statistics, I’d rather take my time and avoid accidents/tickets.
  20. Reckless skiing – I think I was a fast skier because I actually couldn’t see the paths. Now that I have big enough goggles to also wear glasses, I have totally dialed back my speed.
  21. Hardcore adventure sports – I’m not an adrenaline junkie. I would totally rather play some table tennis and drink some beers. I would try some less usual activities like horseback riding and skydiving, but not water skiing or alligator handling
  22. Taking care of a dog – It’s an endless cycle of cleaning after poop. We are passed the guinea pig stage and Evie is fully potty trained, so I’m happy to halt on the shit cleaning for a few years.
  23. Stay at cheap places when traveling – I’m done with this phase of my life. Let’s get a nice airbnb/vrbo/hotel and enjoy the peace and quiet. Why be frugal on these things when we’re probably not going to be able to spend all the money we make anyway.
  24. Run a marathon – It’s not that I’m not physically fit enough to do it, but I honestly just don’t enjoy running. I’ll do other physical challenges like swimming or lifting instead.
  25. Heavy lifting – It’s not worth hurting my back trying to move a peloton up a staircase. This is where we just farm out all this.
  26. Moving houses – I hate the ordeal of moving. It’s just so much work. I’d rather just buy a new house and refurnish it from scratch.
  27. Gambling – I’m okay with the $5-20 pools for some casual poker games, but I’d rather not make a regular appearance in Vegas.
  28. Day trading – If I didn’t day trade, my portfolio would be way better off. Day trading just makes you focus too much on the market movements.
  29. Buying shit coins, shit NFTs, or joining shit daos – Ain’t no one got time for this. There are some genuinely interesting alts for diversity and non scammy projects out there, but I can’t say I’d go on a limb to back more than 50 of these ideas (and 30 or them are probably related to tooling or infrastructure)
  30. Starting a company – At least not in the next 5 years. Evie is just too much fun and these years of being there for her can’t be replicated. I’ll take more career risks in my 40s.

~See Lemons Do Less

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