Rethinking the Buttons

I know we've talked about elevators before, but I'm here to give you a time-saving tip. You can thank me later. Most people, upon stepping into the elevator, follow this general process:

1. step in (while others shift away to make room)
2. press your destination floor (if it isn't already lit)
3. press the "door close" (optional)
4. face the front (and stare up at the numbers)

Now that I basically ride an elevator in every building I enter -- ah, the thrills of living in crazy-dense Asian urbania -- I've noticed a few things that help the patience-deprived, always-in-a-rush people.

You see, the elevator door takes time to close, and with the common steps above, you have this time during which everyone one in the elevator is just waiting for it to close. What a waste! So instead, try this:

1. step in
2. press the "door close"
3. press your destination floor
4. stare at the numbers like a dummy

You've just shaved a second off every elevator ride you'll ever take again in your life. If you ride twice a day (say to your apartment), over the next 10 years, that's an extra hour you've just saved yourself. You're welcome.

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Incidentally, I just realized that while living in California, I rarely needed elevators. I worked on the first floor (the whole company was on one floor), I lived on the first floor, and my gym was on the first floor. Interesting.