A few months ago I posted a little story about how a thrift store Tea Kettle had blown my mind.
You can see the whole post below, or here, but I’ll give you a quick recap: Sara and I were at a thrift store, and I saw a tea kettle for a few bucks – and bought it.
We make coffee or tea nearly every morning – and we’d been boiling the water in a pot (like heathens, apparently), and I figured it was time we owned a proper kettle.
Immediately the kettle revealed itself as a good decision.
I had figured that the noise it makes when the water starts to boil would be useful, and it was, but what surprised me was that the water actually boiled faster too.
So, in addition to the convenience of knowing exactly when the water boils from anywhere in the house, now you’re telling me that we go from zero to caffeine that much faster? Here, take my money.
I wrote the Facebook post because it was a good reminder that using the RIGHT tool for the job makes a big difference.
And clearly I had found the right tool, right?
Oh how wrong I was – and the internet, being the cruel and unforgiving place that it is, wasted no time letting me know.
Some people were perfectly pleasant about it:
And some were a little more “direct”, haha:
But their points were very valid! I had upgraded my equipment, and my process, but still didn’t mean I was as efficient as I could have been.
An electric tea kettle is safer, less wasteful, and even faster.
And I think that’s the real lesson here – just because you’re better than you used to be, doesn’t mean you should pat yourself on the back and take the rest of the day off.
I had basically gone from a covered wagon to a Model T and then bragged about it on the internet.
But, hey, I learned my lesson. I ordered myself a proper electric tea kettle (it should be here tomorrow).
Here’s your take away: Keep getting better.
Incremental improvements are fine, but don’t get complacent.
That goes for marketing automation and household appliances alike.
I find it takes a bit of discipline to go back over the things that are working, and actively look for ways to improve them – but I think that’s how you get ahead.
I’m excited for my new electric tea kettle – but I’m also gonna keep an eye out for whatever the next evolution in tea kettle technology may bring.
Yep. You have to keep sharpening the saw. Constantly keeping your edge sharp is key and retesting assumptions is important so you don’t get passed up by some trend that you missed.
When you are ready for that electric teakettle be sure and contact your Momma at Spice & Tea Merchants we’ve got options!
Ohhhhh….about that….I ordered one on Amazon by accident. Oops. 🙂
If a person has a minimalist mindset, then the tea kettle is a perfectly acceptable solution. And not the Model T that you equated it to.
If the sound of the tea kettle brings you joy, then who’s to say that the electric kettle is the better choice?
If two tools accomplish essentially the same thing (ie: boil water), then is the advanced version with more features better?
I’m all for keeping life easy and simple.
I agree – for me it boils down to (see what I did there?) efficiency and safety. And if the electric tea kettle does it with less wasted energy (i.e. no open flame) and in a safer way (turns itself off), then it makes a lot of sense to go that route.
But hey, Sara actually agreed with you. When I wrote this she said “Oh, really? I love the tea kettle we have.” So, who knows! Maybe there’s hope yet!
I always suspected that Sara was smarter than you!
Hahah, no contest! And not that she needed it – but as of December, she has the PhD to prove it!
But there’s a diff — electric kettles don’t whistle, do they? We have one, and it doesn’t. I often fill it and turn it on, walk away, and remember a half hour later. It switches off automatically, but I also want water that’s good’n’hot!
Good point – I think they CAN alert you when the water hits it’s designated temperature. I guess we’ll have to see if I ordered the right one!
Mine has a beep-beep when the water has come to boil and it IS super fast. The best feature is
setting it to warm, then a second cuppa tea is just seconds away.
This cracks me up. I just bought my first tea kettle not long ago .. and now I find out I’m outdated. lol
Great articles – and great points. Love what you do, Greg!
Right?! Tea kettle technology moves so quick these days. 😛
And thanks for reading!
What you used to spend on heating oil now you spend it on electricity.
That’s true! But the energy use is safer and hopefully more efficient!
LIKE! 😉 (Y)
Lol don’t listen to them. New tech isn’t always the best tech.
The original Super Mario 3 for Nintendo. Its still amazing. Case in point 🙂
Any time you can use SMB3 to make a point, I think that just about settles things…. 😮