Walked into a new prep station at a diner in Portland and saw someone peeling carrots with a paring knife

Three years later I still have that image burned in my brain because it made me realize how many shortcuts we take that actually cost more time. Has anyone else had a moment where you watched a pro do something the "wrong" way and it totally reworked your workflow?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby4502mo ago

Nah, sometimes the wrong way is the faster way if you know what you're doing.

piper_burns2mo ago

YES! That's exactly right. I took a shortcut through a parking lot once and it saved me like 15 minutes of sitting in traffic.

william_carter21d ago

...and that's the thing about shortcuts, people don't get how much time you can save if you just know the back routes. I did that once going through a bank parking lot to skip a light that was stuck on red for like five minutes. The teller inside waved at me, I think she recognized my car from the drive thru line the week before... it was kind of awkward but I saved a good ten minutes. Now I keep a mental map of all the lots near the main intersections in town. It's not about being in a hurry, it's about not wasting your life sitting at lights that don't change.