Circadian Shift

Ugh. Spent yesterday in my pyjamas, but managed to get myself showered, dressed, and out of the apartment by 4pm(ish) today. For me, that's not bad.

Have my mid-term in my project management course tomorrow, so I have PM theory on the brain. One of the first things they teach about in project management is the triple constraint:

• scope (what you hope to accomplish with the project)


• time (how quickly you want to get it done)


• cost (how much you're willing to spend)

Basically, projects involve trade-offs between these three factors -- you usually end up sacrificing one in favour of the other two. For instance, you could do a lot in a short amount of time, but it'll cost you (since you'll have to dedicate more resources to it); or, you can do a lot on the cheap, but it'll take a while; or, you can bash out something quickly and cheaply, but you sacrifice results (quantity and/or quality).

Anyway, it occurred to me while half-heartedly shovelling chicken katsu in my face (ordinarily, I love chicken katsu, but when my mood drops, so does my appetite) that there is a triple constraint of fast food:

• taste


• cost


• nutrition (OK, this last point is relative -- we are talking about fast food after all...)

You can get something that's tasty and cheap (eg. Taco Bell), but has marginal nutritional value; or, you can get something cheap and quasi-nutritious (eg. veggie dog), but taste goes out the window; or, you can get something tasty and somewhat nourishing (eg. chicken katsu, which comes with rice and salad), but it'll cost you.

While I doubt this insight will help me on the mid-term tomorrow, I thought the idea was entertaining. Whatever.