A lumberjack once said, if his life depended on cutting down a tree in five minutes, he would spend three minutes sharpening his axe. More and more, I’ve appreciated this approach to life. Here are some ways I’ve applied it:

A few days ago, I wrote about how cleaning the dishes and kitchen before I cooked made the experience smoother. 

When I pick something up, if I can’t easily grasp it with three fingers, I use both hands.

If I’m running late, I’ll apologize and let my friends know rather than try to shave time off the commute. A hail mary is not happening.

Upon a recent visit to Japan, my wife and I needed to choose between skipping lunch (or scarfing down a fast one), or being extremely late to visit a destination. We chose to have lunch. Not only was it one of the most enjoyable meals of the trip, it also made the visit much smoother in spite of our lateness.

If I’m really hungry and the food needs another half hour or so, I’ll just eat a small snack to tide myself over. I don’t worry about spoiling my appetite anymore.

More and more, I look for ways to “overmatch” a situation. For example, if I cook in the morning, I can do so with relatively little effort—whereas if I try to cook in the evening, the experience is quite difficult.

Instead of setting one reminder or space to do an important task, I’ll make two or three spaces in my calendar to get it done. I’ve alleviated the time pressure. If it takes more time than I need, I can be at ease—there’s more time in the schedule later.

I overcommunicate. If I’m meeting someone else, and I’m just a couple of minutes away from my destination, if the other person calls me, I’ll still pick up the phone.