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Ask HN: What are the things that you buy to save time?

10 points by jondot ↗ HN
Hello all,

In the past I was a minimalist, and today I'm growing to appreciate the need for extra time to be productive.

I'd like to know what are the things that you buy, in life, in order to make more time available.

Examples: dishwasher (kitchen), mixer (kitchen), Synology (NAS, automatic backups), etc.

Thanks!

33 comments

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SQL2219
I won't drive out of my way to save a few percentage points on my purchase. This saves me time. I also signed up for google fiber, thinking I would spend less time waiting for wired.com to download their bloated pages.
jeo1234
Multiple displays for my desktop.
hanniabu
So true...the lack of resistance allows for a more fluid thought and design process too
tired_man
IMHO, it is more so that one can see multiple windows without messing around with tabbing.

When dealing with desktop publishing as a technical writer, I frequently need multiple application windows, a terminal window or two, a client window for the app, my editing program and it's attendant windows, and several misc application to support my work (eyedropper, wireshark, screen cap, gimp, a text editor).

Three monitors would be ideal, but I just don't have the space on my desk. I'm considering a triple wall-mount, another monitor, and rearranging my space so the desk is pushed up to the wall.

hanniabu
Yes, that's exactly what I meant by lack of resistance - by not having to tab around.
tired_man
That's it exactly. If I had four sheets of paper I needed to refer to while writing on a fifth, I sure wouldn't stack the four and shuffle them to see the next bit.
dpeck
housekeepers

Bonus it also reduces tension in any/all co-habitation situations.

bro-stick
Plug de rigueur: HomeJoy (YC S10)

https://www.homejoy.com

Jipha
They closed last month. Some alternatives off the top of my head: https://iamexec.com and https://handy.com
bro-stick
TL;DR: beyond cleaning -> https://www.amazon.com/services

Ah thanks, it's been a while. I met some of the founders and thought the space was a capital-intensive, uphill battle without a biz model defensibility-component on its own. Also, I think the brand has to be crystal clear, and PathJoy / HomeJoy didn't do that. HomeJoy was again unclear as opposed to MerryMaids and the other million maid services. CleanJoy was nice, but I don't think they got the 0->1 solid first before pivoting the brand to something more general. Then, there's the threats of Amazon and Google are dropping in to offer all sorts of home services, WalMart and Costco will also want in, either acquiring established players per vertical or building their own.

It's a double-ended marketplace of getting customers and providers... it takes big bucks/hustling to inform customers and loads of sales time convincing small/medium providers to prenegotiate fees, terms and conditions. (Small business people can be a PITA to sell to, but it's possible with obvious, immediate examples of bringing them more business.). And, how do you vet thousands of suppliers meaningfully and keep only the good ones (feedback, reviews, certifications, training, etc.)? Google, Amazon, AliBaba have the scale to do this where a startup would be hard-pressed to match the meatcloud scaling of human-involved business processes where automation isn't quite there yet, but it's getting better (and lots of startups should focus on automation of service industry and white-collar corporate processes).

Jipha
For sure - there's a ton of these services but not a lot of differentiation. There's even a subreddit[1] with over 10k readers based around home services like this mostly copying the same model.

I had no idea about those big players wanting in. Very interesting. Thanks.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/entrepreneurridealong

atomical
I bought a Vitamix and make smoothies in the morning. I buy 40lbs of bananas at a time. I combine 8 bananas with strawberries and nutritional yeast. I have so much energy in the morning.
schoen
How do you clean your Vitamix?

I have a Vitamix and I love it, but I find it a bit difficult to clean well, and that limits how often I use it.

PerfectElement
I use it everyday too. Depending on the smoothie I can just rinse it right after using it, while everything is still liquid. Other times I fill 1/3 with water, a bit of liquid dish soap, put the blender in the MAX setting and turn it on.
schoen
I think my trouble is letting it sit for even 10-20 minutes after the smoothie is done, which makes it much harder to rinse.

Thanks for the suggestions.

monknomo
Fruit cement begins to form very quickly. I usually rinse blenders before I start to drink whatever I've blended.
schoen
Huh, I also don't think it ever occurred to me to transfer the smoothie to another container to allow washing the Vitamix sooner. But that's easily done, and the other container could go in the dishwasher later.
ruraljuror
Single serving blenders like the magic bullet are easier to clean.
atomical
That wouldn't be a single serving for me. :)
atomical
I think the manual said to use vinegar to remove mineral build up. I don't worry about deep cleaning it too often. I do rinse it out immediately after I use it.
dennybritz
Following a meal plan and preparing your meals for the whole week (or 3-4 days at once). Or buying Soylent.

Maid Service (Cleaning/Laundry).

Home Gym equipment.

hanniabu
Not necessarily buying, but I took a pay cut when I changed jobs in order to work remotely. Saves 3hrs/day in commute time, so the cut was well worth it to me.
Rainymood
On the other hand. I moved closer to school to live on my own (not with my parents) and I thought the 2hr commute would make up for it. Turns out that my time was eaten up by doing a LOT of stuff on my own that normally my parents would do for me (cook diner, wash clothes, clean, etc.).

This new experience made me appreciate my parents efforts a lot more :)

ruraljuror
Personally, I think continuing to be a minimalist is the best strategy, but that may also depend on your personality. I need my environment to be tidy, so keeping maintenance manageable is a priority. Apartment Therapy, the konmari method and the book Home Comforts are good resources for this.

In terms of gadgets, my rice cooker (with timer) is essential for me. I eat steel cut oatmeal every breakfast. The timer allows me to cook it overnight so it is ready in the morning. If you are only doing oatmeal the microwave works well, but I also do a lot of rice.

Speaking of which, (again) if you do cook, the microwave is also fantastic. Fast and nutritious for whole foods. Try sweet potatoes(yams) in the microwave.

MalcolmDiggs
An unlimited data plan for my phone, and a hotspot. I never realized how much time I spent looking for a good wifi-signal / cafe until I didn't have to do it anymore. Being able to just stop wherever I am, open the laptop and address the issue (or take the video call, etc), has been a huge timesaver.
j2bax
Location? Carrier? Plan? Cost?
MalcolmDiggs
Location: US, mostly California. I travel constantly. Never had a problem with coverage anywhere in the continental US.

Carrier: I've used Sprint, MetroPCS and Tmobile for phones. I've used Verizon and Tmobile for hotspots.

Plan and Cost: For phones I get unlimited-everything plans which cost between $65 and $100 a month, depending on the carrier and the phone. For hotspots it's hard to find anything like an unlimited plan, so I usually pay per GB. Costs range from $5 to $10 per GB. But obviously if you can figure out a way to tether your laptop to your phone (the difficulty of which will depend on the your carrier and phone) then you don't need a hotspot.

tmaly
I take a picture of important documents,receipts, and tax info and upload them to the cloud. It saves time when I have to pull up a documents or do taxes later on. It beats having to sift through mountains of paper.

So to answer your question, a phone with a good camera and a unlimited data plan