Outsourced Competence · also called convenience erosion
why do I order food every night instead of cooking
Outsourced competence is paying, again and again, to avoid small acts of self-sufficiency — cooking, fixing, cleaning — and calling it efficiency. Each outsourced task is small, but the pattern quietly teaches you that you’re not capable of your own basic maintenance, which is a more expensive loss than the delivery fee.
Every "I don’t have time to cook" is a small vote against your own competence, cast on a debit card.
What to do about it
This week, do the one small task you’d normally pay someone or something else to handle — cook instead of order, fix instead of replace — and notice what it costs you versus what it gives back.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
The Elite BlueprintComing soon
Average Is DiseaseComing soon
The Top TaxComing soon
Habit ArchitectureComing soon
Sharpen Or ShelveComing soon
Raise The FloorComing soon
The Daily RepComing soon
Visible CompoundingComing soonPart of the Elite series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- why do I order food every night instead of cooking
- I pay for convenience so often I forgot how to do things myself
- outsourcing everything and feeling less capable
- is convenience making me worse at basic life skills
- I don’t cook anymore and I don’t know when that happened
- paying to avoid small tasks I used to just do
- how outsourcing chores is quietly making me less self-sufficient
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.