Internal Surge Pricing

A most unwelcome symbol in my life is the Uber Surge icon. It often means it’s raining. That or it’s 6:30pm on a Friday. However unwanted, it’s existence is understandable of course. It represents an increase in price due to an increase in demand.

I have my own internal version of surge pricing when it comes to how much I pay to optimize my time for creative production. It has to do with how creative I feel and thus, how valuable I consider my time to be at a given moment. If I’m feeling particularly effective and capable creatively, I am much more likely to pay to decrease the amount of time needed to accomplish menial tasks. My creativity ebbs and flows throughout the day. I am unable to predict its movements, but when I feel it surging as it were, I take every necessary measure to keep it that way.

This means no distractions. This means no wasting time. Depending on the situation, this might entail an Uber Cab (worst is when we are both surging), a FancyHands email, or more recently an Exec call. I don’t feel like anyone has really nailed some of the more frustrating time sinks (taxes, banks, postage, home improvements, etc) but I’m enjoying experimenting (as cost allows) with the options as they are now. It’s one of the best parts about living in this technology petri-dish that is San Francisco.

Further reading, and what got me thinking about this in the first place: my friend Andrey has a good article on transactional costs.