Everyday Systems

Hi All,

New podcast episode:

Episode 103: Rule Burden, Decision Burden
Posted by Reinhard on 2026-03-13
I'm now practicing 33 Everyday Systems. How is that possible? Is it even a good idea?

https://podcast.everydaysystems.com/episode/103/



Hope you enjoy.

Reinhard

At last! Great episode, even though i've secretly been wishing for an i.d.defaults episode. But, no complaints. Since it was vaguely announced for maybe sometime this year, it's cool to wait around for it. As a quote (paraphrase actually) from the "Paradox bullets" movie says (spoken by W. Herzog): Procrastrination is for good problems. Savour the good problems. But if you have a bad problem, solve it immediately before it slowly saps your mental energy. For example, if you got a parking ticket, just pay it. But if you have an idd episode in the cooking, let it simmer

Speaking of quotes, a pleasure to hear a direct excerpt from the original NoS diet text. (...) just forget it and move on to something else.
Please do a podcast with just the original, uncut website text

As for the decision fatigue - check out my latest incarnation of the inner count to 200 (dont have a better name yet) system:

The problems: lack of focus, trouble focusing on a task at hand, trouble finishing a task, trouble multitasking household chores, trouble picking what to do next, dozing off, getting paralyzed by indecision

The method/solution: busy the mind with counting to 200 within a 14 minutes period (no fiddling with starting or stopping timers, just a clock visual cue - start and end on either of the hour's 4 quarters). While the verbal part of the mind is busy counting, let the body and subconcious mind do the work, make decisions on the go, while using the counting as a pace. Kind of like entering a mindful bagful state.

Sometimes it will be less than 200, sometimes more in total, but merely starting from 1, and going to 2, 3 gets things going in a right direction.

Paired with updated timed personal punchcard concept, and a bit of lifelog / greenishness, i came up with this neat daily count tracker:
https://imgur.com/a/gnFeuFU
(big numbers are counts, T-s are for when i accomplish a task from the card, 10-s are just placeholder symbols filled in at the end of the day for when im in public or with family and just use shorter span counts to 10 if needed between conversations to ground and get to work.
Finally, the 1s and 2s are computer work, when i write down a single next-task to accomplish with pen and paper (and sometimes even accomplish 2 in 14 minutes). Blanks are rest/distraction/indulgence.

It is a productivity system on a smaller (or should i say micro) granularity than a personal punchcard, more similar to mantrafication, but reduced to numbers. Just counting seems to act just as good as self pep talk. The body and subconscious already know what to do and make all the right decisions.

P.S. you never said what brand of mayo you prefer! Another cliffhanger for intelligent dietary defaults topic.

Thank you, Miran! So many good things to consider.

1. IDD episode should be out soon -- I started it last month but then switched. Glad you are interested!
2. I will think about reading the No S site... maybe. There are many things I would probably feel the desire to tweak, I'm a little afraid it might devolve into a rewrite project.
3. I am intrigued by your count to 200 system! What kinds of activities do you pair this with? Dishes? Housework? My brain would have trouble with anything involving much thought, but I could see a bunch of mostly physical activities it could pair well with.
4. I go for Market Basket usually (I'm cheap )

Yes, you got it right, pairs great with housework, dishes, or as i like to put it, any kind of "walking" activity (done on foot) that doesnt require talking (or active thinking, which is similar). It does pair well with some mundane "sitting" activities also, like a bit of regular maintenence on the computer, backuping, emptying recycle bin, or closing the tabs and getting youself to actual work, where the pencil and paper take over counting. Some "lying down" activites also pair well, like putting yourself to sleep or even starting the sequence of getting youself out of bed. Of course, bed activities in general rarely require such a high count as 200 - the result is usually achieved sooner (thats what she said) and count is lost.

However, where the system really shines is in transitions and multitasking. So for transition example instead of thinking "doing the dishes", its more like doing the dishes and then transitioning to laundry without much tribulation on the premises. The laundry is pre-planned, you are in the move and mid-count, so no urge to stop and use the phone for 45 minutes instead.
As for the multitasking example, its like doing the dishes, but not getting too involved in it as you don't have enough time, washing just a couple of grossest items, switching to feeding the cat (or dog in my case), switching to closing the windows, switching to answering an incoming wapp message, putting away 10 items around the house (without getting caught in the rage against the person that produced the mess)... All those mundane yet neccesary decisions effortlessly sequenced within a 200 count timespan.

As for the mayo, I used to have some cheap supermarket brand defaults as well, but then they discontinued it. In croatia it is always a dead battle between a nestle owned thomy (a bit more sour) and domestic zvijezda (more on the salty side).
My all time favourite mayo..dish? meal? Is mayo/fresh tomato sandwich. Recently i learned that it is a real thing in the states, especially in the south. It has its own wiki page and it is recommended to "eat over the sink"! Very counter - NoS, you didnt hear this from me.

I like it... it's a little like "Timebox Lord," except you provide the timer. Very mentat!

I am a fan of the tomato mayo sandwich as well! Powerful nostalgic associations with my dad, who loved them too. The tomatoes were much better down where he lived (New Jersey) than where I live now (Massachusetts). I make it open faced (just one slice) with European whole grain bread (either Mestemacher or Trader Joe's "Danish" whole grain bread).

Reinhard

Dear Reinhard!

Thank you very much for this episode. Yes, I agree, rules can simplify your life by not having to decide every time: should/can I drink alcohol today, eat sweets today etc? In summary I sometimes like to think about these systems / habits as "not doing something" habits. They do not take any time in themselves. Not doing things something will rather save time.
BUT: there are these habits where you have to invest time (14 Minutes Shovelglove, Urban Ranger, Study time etc). In order to "check the box" you need time. And at least for me there is a limit at how many things I can commit to before my life gets too stiff (sorry, can't talk to you right now: there are habits I have to follow...). And there are days where it is hard to manage. Every time we go on a vacation for example: get up, have breakfast, prepare food for the trip, get the stuff in the car, drive for hours, go shopping there, unpack etc - no time for time consuming habits. No S is not the issue. But finding time to read/study? Get in the steps?...
How do you handle that? There might be a solution in having these different types of days like N-Day and S-Days, with commitments or without/less commitments. Do you have a pragmatic way to handle this? A third category of days?

Thank you, all the best

Stefan