Comments on: You Shouldn’t Always Look for the Right Tool

By: Vernon

Vernon — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:44:09 +0000

Very good article. I too am guilty of spinning my wheels looking for the right tool.

I think the trick is to know when it is beneficial to spend the time looking for the right tool or tools, especially when that tool is used repetitively and will enable you to make up the time lost searching for it.

Still, I sometimes find it difficult to know when to use the tools I have or find a better solution.

By: Mark Shead

Mark Shead — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:08:37 +0000

@Charles – When I was growing up I caught my room on fire on two different occasions.

By: Charles McPhate

Charles McPhate — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:58:40 +0000

What I found amusing about this article: “I set my room on fire for the first time.”

Um…have there been other times you’ve set your room on fire? Is this something you do regularly?

By: David

David — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:34:55 +0000

I.e., that fast food receipt you stuck in your pocket – to record in your finances later -might just be the best place to capture a note from the conversation you had at the restaurant.

By: william

william — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:38:00 +0000

good point I keep wasting my times looking for the perfect tool for projects or problems that some times I don’t even need to address

I’ll keep your history in my mind thank you

By: tinatopak

tinatopak — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 04:43:39 +0000

nice story. and it gives us a perfect example of how we sometimes waste ‘precious time’ looking for the ‘perfect tools’ (i.e. a fire extinguisher or the best gtd application).

when in fact we can do with finishing priority items with our existing resources (i.e shoes or pen and paper).

i often find myself checking out and testing different applications to see if they will suit my needs, simplify the way i do things. but if i look back and see how much time i spent evaluating these tools and actually working on my tasks, i often find that i waste a chunk of my time on these trials and errors.

i guess it best thing to remember is to think first before you act. your mom surely did

By: DebugLife.com

DebugLife.com — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:52:53 +0000

I am often guilty of that: trying to find the perfect solution when what I have in hand is more than adequate. Good way of wasting time unfortunately.

-Arif

By: L

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:01:59 +0000

Your mother sounds like a very innovative person!

By: Zoltán Cserei

Zoltán Cserei — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:11:44 +0000

My point is that sometimes people get so excited about using (or finding) the perfect tool for a particular problem.

That’s true.
We Hungarians have a saying for that. When someone acts like that, we say that he doesn’t see the forest because of the tree. He doesn’t see the obvious because of the immaterial.

Nice points presented here.
Wish you the best,
Zoltán.

By: Juggling Frogs

Juggling Frogs — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:35:37 +0000

I take it she had a lot of experience putting out electrical fires. It sound as though the whole family enjoyed creative wiring projects.

We could all learn from your mother. She focused on solving the PROBLEM, not on the SOLUTION.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:25:29 +0000

Good point. I’m obviously not suggesting that every fire should be extinguished by getting a relative to step on it. In this case the item was no longer plugged in and it was only the carpet that was burning.

My point is that sometimes people get so excited about using (or finding) the perfect tool for a particular problem. As they look for the right tool the problem gets bigger and they would be better off using whatever simple method is at their disposal to immediately solve the issue.

Good point about the fire extinguishers. There are different types and you can hurt yourself if you don’t know what you are doing.

By: Tyler Ingram

Tyler Ingram — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:31:56 +0000

Now one thing that most people don’t know is that there are 3 types of Fire Extinguishers. Well up here in Canada anyway, though I don’t see why the US or anywhere else would have totally different ones.

They are also rated A, B and C. Each one is meant for a different type of fire but the one that the majority of homes would have would be meant for all 3 type.

You wouldn’t use the liquid based one on an electrical fire kind of thing right?