Only own one type and color of sock
As the global stock market plunges into turmoil, the prudent look for investment opportunities elsewhere. One such opportunity is the sock market.
While socks depreciate in monetary value, an investment now in specific socks can save you many minutes of precious time.
Owning only one type of sock will save you time sorting socks into pairs as you'll be able to keep all your socks loose and simply pick any two at random.
How much time will having one type of sock save?
At first I thought this would be a interesting computer science problem, as it has parallels with sorting algorithms — but in real life there is only one decent way of sorting socks:
- Dump them out on a surface.
- One by one pick them up and place them in piles of matching socks.
This method can be done in linear time O(n) which is a computer science way of saying: the time it takes to sort socks is just the time it takes to sort one sock times however many socks you've got.
So if it takes 5 seconds to sort one sock, it should take 50 seconds to sort 10 socks. Not very interesting.
The new method takes O(1)time. This means no matter how many socks there are, it takes the same amount of time. E.g. the time it takes you to pick up a pile of socks and stuff it in a drawer.
There are also other time savings to consider:
- Not needing to initially form a sock pile from the laundry. (perhaps 20 seconds)
- Not needing to fold the socks into pairs in the sock drawer. (perhaps 5 seconds per pair)
- Choosing a pair to wear (between seconds and minutes)
- Searching for a missing sock (hours)
Caveats
- There are circumstances where you may need other socks. For instance you might want winter socks, sports socks, or wind socks.
- If you live with a partner you may lose some precious time extracting imposter socks. Other time savings will still apply.
So, which socks should you get?
It's been about 6 months since I bought 20 pairs of plain black socks. They're comfy and match every outfit. However, since I haven't tried any other socks, I don't feel comfortable recommending them.
Instead, I suggest you let the invisible foot of the sock market guide you.