Ten Days in the Sock Drawer
Thirty seconds a day, eighty years: ten days of a life spent matching socks. This isn't about socks.
I was watching a podcast this weekend featuring Jeph Maystruck and he mentioned wearing socks that don't match and that it feels a little rebellious.
That's me!! I rarely wear socks that match. If they do match today, it's a fluke. And this isn't some new thing. I've been doing it at least since I was twenty, probably longer. Jeph just got me thinking about it.
What I'd never done before is the math. Let's say finding matching socks costs thirty seconds a day. Maybe you only do it on Sundays for the whole week, fine, but let's average it out. Thirty seconds a day, that's nothing, right? Thirty seconds a day is about three hours a year. Keep that up for eighty years and that's roughly ten days spent matching socks. Literally ten days of my life. Gone. And I quit this one ages ago, so I've been getting those days back for years.
Nobody ever gave me a reason to match them in the first place. There isn't one. People just do it because everyone does it.
Let's fast forward. I'm on my deathbed, wishing I had just a bit more time. Do you think I'll look back and wish I spent more time organizing my sock drawer? Probably not.
Now, if matching your socks brings you joy, keep matching. Seriously. This isn't about socks. It's about the stuff we all do on autopilot that gives nothing back. Socks were just my first one, and I quit them decades ago.
The podcast got me thinking about the ways I've been automating my digital sock drawer the past few years. The copying and pasting between apps, the renaming of files, the same info typed into three different places, the report I assemble by hand every single week. Digital socks, all of it. And unlike real socks, this pile costs me hours a week, not seconds a day.
Here's the difference though. I can't automate my real socks (yet, working on it). But digital socks? Those can absolutely match themselves. That's what Team Dub Labs does. We look at the stuff you and your team do on autopilot, and we build the thing that does it for you. You get those hours back for something that actually matters. Like coffee.
Don't get me wrong. I would never wear a short sock with a tube sock. I'm not a monster. But making sure they're a perfect match just seems like a total waste of time. For me anyways.
So, what's in your digital sock drawer? I'd genuinely love to hear it. That conversation is free, and it might just find you a few of your ten days.
Podcast: watch on YouTube · Jeph Maystruck: Strategy Lab