The Lean Life: Extreme Time Cheaters Reality TV Show

So I stumbled on this show which premiered 12/30/15 on Discovery GO. Extreme Time Cheaters is a reality TV show about people who go to extreme and unusual lengths to save time in their days thereby optimizing their time and in a roundabout way also cheating death. 

In keeping with the tradition of Reality TV, they take a plausible and arguably sensible premise  and then turn the dial to the maximum. The "Time Cheating" tips range from ingenious to ignoramus such as: AstroTurfing your lawn to reduce maintenance, owning many pairs of the same black socks so you don't waste time matching them when doing laundry, doing dishes in the shower, ironing your shirts with the underside of a fresh brewed coffee pot, shaving your legs while in the pool, liquifying all your meals so you don't need to chew, etc. The main metric for the show of course is time so each strategy is paired with how much time it could save you during your lifetime.

Everyone featured on the show has a noble cause for their frugality with time, they are looking to spend more time with family or for charity. Certainly, Time (or Waiting) is one of the 7 deadly wastes so it's a quick and easy way to measure your savings. The trouble though is that savings don't always equate to productivity. If the ultimate goal from saving time is to live a more productive life, then you should also measure output which is where the math can get a bit murky. The issues with living a Time Cheater lifestyle is that their obsession impacts a lot of their personal relationships and also renders them incapable of dealing with change, essentially planning their days then living a life on rails.  I would be interested in seeing alternate metrics to see not just the impact on their own life but the people around them and their quality of life. In healthcare they have a Quality-Adjusted Life Year (or QALY), this calculation takes into account the quality and quantity of life lived and is used to assess the value and impact of various medical intervention options. The calculation itself it made up of subjective parts based on respondents input but it would give a better picture of the overall impact of time savings. 

This is an odd show that sort of fits into my wheelhouse of Lean. It demonstrates that there is a desire to implement Lean in our daily lives but you also need to be cognizant of the big picture. Don't just focus on the waste also focus on the output.