How Adam Savage Manages His "Stupid Impatience" 

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they actually did a study with dogs and showed that a dog's pleasure center lit up more in anticipation of seeing their owner than it did in anticipation of receiving a hot dog. so your dog loves you a measurable and quantifiable amount more than food!

As a 34 year old living with life long ADHD, this video speaks to my soul. I appreciate you Adam. That feeling you described has started ruining DIY and making for me and I never identified it until this vid. Reminds me of the old song "I'm in a hurry to get things done oh I, rush and rush until life's no fun. All I really gotta do is live and die but I'm in a hurry and don't know why"

"It was one of the more remarkable moments of my life" regarding losing a loved companion at home. This really spoke to me, as one who's lost three cats myself, and with the most recent one also having died at home. If Adam, who's seen an done so much in life, ranks the passing of his beloved dog in the top moments of his life, it really speaks to the emotional bond between humans and companion animals. I know that I was absolutely inconsolable for a couple days whenever I lost a cat.

It's not "taking longer than it should" it's "taking longer than you want"

The Maggie section made me cry. I had no idea you were such a dog person, Adam. My wife and I have a small rescue for Senior Chihuahuas and saving dogs is our passion and life. It means so much to me to see your passion and love for dogs also!

As an adhd creative, I really appreciate this video! If a master like you still feels and deals with these things, I can only imagine how many others feel the same and find what you've accomplished inspiring. Also delighted to hear Maggie is well; science fixes animals and even proves how grateful they are! Hurray for science!

Wow Adam, I love your emotional awareness!! Thank you so much for allowing this prompt to create this content. I just love really getting to see your personality shine in this channel, vs. the years I watched myth busters religiously. Authenticity rules!!!

Relating to emotions, I think one of the important things is to recognize that having an emotion, experiencing it, is very different than letting it dictate your actions. Sure it's better to not get frustrated, but there's not a huge amount you can do about that, you can do something, but it's limited. What you can do (more so with practice) is choose how you react to that emotion.

Emotional Intelligence is an art to be mastered, learning to suppress the initial primal brain reaction is key. Awesome Maggie is recovering well and kudos to the person who came up with that incision technique!

our dog had a long and good life. we used to say that he was a puppy in heart (all the way till he was 15), just that as he got older, he would tire out faster. he would bounce and run around but as he got older he would do it once and than lay down. in his last year his health deteriorated, but when the vet visited and he got up to et away and hide - the vet said his quality of life is so good that he was getting away from the vet - it is clearly way too early for us to discuss putting him down to ease his pain. almost a year later, he was about 16, when it got so bad that he stopped eating and drinking and barely got up during the weekend - we knew he was near the end and he did our best to comfort him with love, and that as the weekend ended, we called the vet over. he ended up taking his last breath ~2 hours before the vet arrived. we will miss him, but there was a significant feeling of relief that he was no one in pain

I loved the advice on managing your own expectations. This isn't necessarily "good" advice for those scenarios. But some advice I find particularly hilarious is "left hand only" anger responses. It shows up on TikTok sometimes. But if you're on a golf course and you hit a bad shot, and you want to throw your club (not a healthy response obviously) the other person quickly shouts "left hand only" and that reminds you that you're allowed to express that anger but only with your non dominant hand. So you can throw your club, but only with your left hand. And then how badly you throw the club adds an element of humour into the situation and de-escalates things things pretty quickly. Again it's not great advice, but it's pretty funny.

This twist on a dog's life and passing always brings the tears: In the dog world, humans are elves that routinely live to be 500+ years old... "They live so long... but the good ones still bond with us for our entire lives." "These immortals are so kind we must be good friends to them" "Now I am old. The fur around my muzzle is grey and my joints ache when we walk together. Yet she remains unchanged, her hair still glossy, her skin still fresh, her step still sprightly. Time doesn't touch her and yet I love her still." "For generations, he has guarded over my family. Since the days of my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather he has kept us safe. For so long we thought him immortal. But now I see differently, for just as my fur grows gray and my joints grow stiff, so too do his. He did not take in my children, but gave them away to his. I will be the last that he cares for. My only hope is that I am able to last until his final moments. The death of one of his kind is so rare. The ending of a life so long is such a tragedy. He has seen so much, he knows so much. I know he takes comfort in my presence. I only wish that I will be able to give him this comfort until the end."

I have this same problem but when i only have a few hours a week where i'm not working and I can work on my project/hobby, the feeling of wasting time is frustrating

Yeah at 14 I would let Maggie be just yours until she is not yours any more ❤ Our rescue Frankie says woof.

"90% of the project takes 90% of the time, and the remaining 10% takes 90% of the rest of the time.". - I cant remember who said it but its true

I am right there with you that is my main source of frustration in my life people not understanding basic things and not understanding how slow they get things done. As a dad raising two young children this is by far the most challenging thing of parenting lol

How could Adam go up in my estimations even more?! Well hearing him talking about his love for animals and dogs in particular I can't help but think he's even more awesome than I already did! Good on you Adam for rescuing a doggie family member. We only rescue, seeing the transformation is priceless every time!

As a fellow dog lover (and serial rescuer - we now have a 2 year old English Bulldog who proved too expensive for his first family), Maggie news is always appreciated!

Thank you Adam genuinely love this video. There's a lot of things going on in my life right now and this video really speaks to me. It may seem silly. It may seem like you're just uploading a video like you do every day.... But when I hear your voice and I can see the passion that you have.... Thank you

I've always thought this was just work ethic. If you want to get it done you get it done. I like to listen to podcasts as I work. This helps with the frustration, it kind of keeps me level.

Random comment: I was re-watching The Expanse.... and Adam was in it! Season 3, the episode where they've got a research vessel descending on Venus... :P - great work mate, glad to see you popping up in random places and being as awesome as usual ;).

I love these Q and A's as it always feels like Adam is sharing and talking directly to you as an individual. I didn't even ask the question. Love it and please never stop doing these. 👍

Im so impatient that i only buy things from local stores because I'm too impatient to wait for shipping

I usually watch your videos for the interesting creativity and design that I don't know much about and to escape the emotional issues I'm going through, but then I watch this and I can't escape emotions. I go to Emotions Anonymous meetings and you hit on so many great points: Patience, Gratitude, Compassion and more. Thank you for sharing this.

I get impatient and also the novelty of a new project wears of somewhat quickly, so I learned to juggle my projects and postpone the ones where I have to forcefully wait, to not get impatient. I realized this sometimes when trying to disassemble toys and other electric equipments and not finding all the screws or tight plastic covers, and when I was younger I just snapped and destroyed everything because "I can fix it back if I want" but once you break some plastic or pull some cables out, there is no fixing it back to pristine level again.

I appreciate these videos so much because they are effectively mentoring via stories. The best kind.

While I love to hear tips on making, or look at some new tool or machine you’re using in the shop I find that my favorite videos are the ones where you talk about your psyche, your ever maturing self awareness, and of course Maggie. These small bits of humanity feel very personal. Thanks for sharing how you’re making yourself.

Love this. A great lesson on the arrows. I needed this, that you for upgrading my patience. Bless you.

Glad your pup is doing well, Adam!! My dog had a number of mast cell tumors throughout her life, and seeing the surgical process improve (and her healing process speed up!) over the years was heartening! She had her first tumor at 8 years old, and my girl made it to 16 before her cancer finally caught up with her in May. I was lucky enough to be able to do it at home when her time came, too. The grief is still intense, but the dignity and beauty of allowing her to pass quietly and comfortably in a place she chose was a really powerful experience that I am so grateful for. Give Maggie a belly rub for me and my Annie. :)

Adam can drop Maggie news when ever appropriate I'd appreciate that. Also that second arrow really spoke to me. Being hurt by losing my center emotionally is such a second arrow strike.

I feel so similar to the way you stress over emotional project management and dealing with “delay.” I really appreciate your philosophical analysis and sharing your experiences. You’d be an incredible mentor if you’re not already. Thanks Adam!

Haha, the impatience question/answer really hit home. I like the two arrows framing. Will need to keep it in mind. Cheers.

I volunteer with restoration projects with the Battleship Texas. I have this wonderful mode I drop into when working on those projects. 5 hours to remove 5 screws…productive day! Hours spend sandblasting 5 layers of paint from an object in the sand blasting cabinet … progress. Two hours of experimental disassembly … fun! I only wish I could bring that mindset into other parts of my life. I am trying. It is an opportunity to grow. It is all about the second arrow.

Love love love the QTIP and second arrow description - I'm stealing both of those. As always, thank you Adam.

I needed that impatience talk today hahaha, something really simple like "Mount X on to Y" takes three hours cause you're trying to do it in a way that's strong, accurate and won't fall off in a year, that's why my projects take forever

Dogs are the best animals on the planet and truly love their owners. They definitely understand our emotions often better than the people around us. Whoever coined the frase that "dogs are man's best friend" nailed it. The biggest tell that dogs truly love us is that if their owner dies alone with them. That dog will starve to death before it ever even thought about eating its owner. It is common to find that a cat has started eating their own within a couple hours of dieing. That proves that cats have no love for their owners.

I feel this so much when programming. Trying to figure out stuff that I know is simple but I can't seem to figure out, or doing things that should work but they just don't and it takes days to figure out the problem (which is often something small and tangential).

As an inventor, it can take many iterations, lots of R&D & design time to get a project to completion. I'm always more frustrated by other people's lack of patience & willingness to just let me work. I hate it when outside influences interrupt then those same influencers are all "why haven't you finished that yet?"

"Longer than it should" means you underestimated how how long it takes. A project is like a wizard - it's never late, never early, just arrives precisely on time - it's time, not your time.

The section where adam talked about maggie reminded me of my dog pi, who die last november. I got home from school and he was waiting for me at the top of the stairs and when i went to say hi he was limping and i found a soft lumpy mass under his armpit so my mother and her partner (who's dog he was originally) took him to the vet and a few hour later i got a text from my mom saying that there was nothing that the vet could do and that he had to be put down. Watching this reminded me of some of the stuff he used to do that annoied me and how much i would like to see him again.

Hi Adam, I have been watching you now from the very beginning of Mythbusters. I remember vividly that first experience and since then you have become a hero of mine. That said, I come to Tested for a myriad of reasons and this segment has led me to pose a question. I absolutely love how you responded to the patience topic and I was wondering if you would mind doing more segments about more philosophical aspects of life. Your wisdom has definitely made an impact on me and I think the world would benefit from your insight. Yours truly, Zach

I don't watch all the one day builds, but I've seen enough to have that "uh oh, it's about to happen" feeling when he's clearly about to loose his Patience. I struggle with the same things, so I can related, doesn't stop it from being slightly in the realm of schadenfreude when you see it happen to others though. All the points in the world for still posting those moments.

I'm impatient sometimes too mostly when things get to tedious to do.

Holy sh*t….that being in the future, not the present while making is incredible. That’s exactly what I feel, and why I feel it. fantastic

I stopped your video immediately to go watch the new We Walk Dogs, enjoyed it immensely, then came back. That surgical technique for your doggo is super interesting! 15 is amazing. What a good girl. Old pets are the best. It's totally okay to help a pet enjoy their retirement: We did that with an elderly three-legged cat after her "sibling" passed away in 2020. The "retirement" lasted three more years for our screamy old lady. She had a great last few years being babied, so we have zero regrets.

Great man Great ideas good management awesome worker

Ditto!....Oh how I get frustrated in the workshop when: 1. I can't find something. 2. Can't get something to work that worked last time I used it. 3. Can't find the fault. 4. Didn't take the time to document a seemingly easy task that haunts me later. 5. Run out of time. Most of the time sleeping on it, or going off and doing something else for a while sorts it out.

"Sorry if this is gross, but i find it fascinating" is souch a good quote

Dude, thank you. This also kind of feeds into mental health and I'm right there with you. In fact, watching this video has me triggered.

Making is quite fluid. Using a tool from AA, a thorough moral inventory. Is a powerful tool that can help the individual self correct that really works.

Thank you

Adam, I appreciate this video. Ty

I find that using the word "should" in and of itself is already an unhelpful way of looking at the situation. I learned that "should" against yourself is basically a +1 to guilt, and that "should" towards someone/something else is a +1 to anger. If I catch myself, then I'll always try to rephrase something in terms of "want" or "wish". "I want to finish this more quickly, how can I do that?". To me it takes a lot of the negative perspective away (even if the current state of affairs still isn't what you desire). It also helps motivate me... "I want to finish painting my new office so I can use it" vs sitting on the couch going "I should go paint my office"

In computer programming, things always take longer than "they should." I used to use the following guide: Generate the "primitive logical notion" of how long a project should take, then multiply by 4, 5, and 9, to get the minimum, mean, and maximum time that it will actually occupy. That always worked pretty well for me. I had a couple of other approaches, but they required prior experience with similar tasks.

I have a similar response when something takes longer than I expected It would. It’s crazy-making. I don’t think I’d use the word entitled. For me, it’s almost always an error on my part when setting my expectations. I think it’s a one hour job, but an unexpected twist extends it. I resent the twist, because “it should have been an hour!“ On those rare instances when I succeed in redefining it for myself, and understand how the twist was inevitable, I can calm myself down. But until then, oh boy!

This happens to everyone. I love Adam answering this.

I am currently in the middle of doing a R&R of a left rear window regulator in my 99 Suburban. Now it took me 3 months to find a replacement. Nobody makes a replacement fro the left rear. the other three windows, not a problem, but no left rear. So as you can imagine, the wrecking yards and auto recyclers are very proud of the ones they have. So I found one kind of locally, a 2 hour round trip, but that's what I had to do. I pulled the old one out (it literally FELL out when I drilled the big pop rivets out) first so I could be sure I got the correct part. To wrap this up, the part was correct, however I have spent the last two weeks trying to get the replacement part back in. Every time I get frustrated and start trying stupid stuff, I stop and walk away. I may never get this thing done, that 2X4 inside the door might be holding that window up for ever.

Thanks for the Maggie update! She's so precious.

I would love to find some kind of autistic/aspergers discussion group where we could all talk about this stuff. What you are describing sounds like me and I was officially diagnosed austistic/aspergers as an adult a few years back.

Great video !!

You can just never be sure how an animal will react. My Aunt always has dogs, first a golden retriever and then she got the biggest Yorkie ever Buddy and after the golden passed they got a terrier mix Jazzy. Jazzy and Buddy got along, but Jazzy was always a shy dog. Now Buddy is gone and the have a rescue Aussie named Cali. It's interesting to see how Cali has brought Jazzy out of her shell. Jazzy is more excited and even runs around a little after Cali. It's the most energetic I've ever seen her.

I think I get frustrated more than I get impatient lol.

Emotions are the igniters of thought. Process the emotion first, then process what it is you want.

One thing that makes impatience even more of an issue is when you know a certain thing would take you like 1minute to complete, but there's someone else doing it and you're just an on looker of the thing that is going on and the entire time you feel impatient because of your own knowledge. But I think taking a step back and understanding other people might have problems learning the thing is important and maybe instead of being angry and impatient, teach the people how the specific thing can be done more sufficientl so that in the future there wont (hopefully) be delays.

Every live stream needs a Maggie News segment! 🐕😁 I often get asked if Im ever getting a "sibling" for my old mutt and the answer is no 😅 Me and my Lucy have been a duo for over a decade and she deserves every single bit of my love and attention, especially in her later years. Besides, my couch and bed aren't big enough for a third body, animal OR human! 😂😂

the method you described being done to your dogs skin around the stiches is very similar to the process which skin grafts under go before being applied. theres a machine they role them through in order to cut them "accordion style", as you put it. it allows them to get something crazy like 250% (pls dont quote that) coverage compared to without

I did an involuntary fist-pump when you said “local rescue” 😂🎉

For the record, studies have shown that cats will also bond with us in surprising ways. In the wild, African Wildcats (the closest relatives to the domestic cat) pretty much only get together when it is time to make more cats. However, when domestic cats go feral, they still create strong bonds with their cat families in a way that is similar to the bonds they make when they live with humans. Living with us for thousands of years has changed them in measurable ways.

"Stupid impatience" - man, I feel that too. If I have to repair something around the house I usually look forward to it. Until things don't go quite right, or like I envisioned in my head. If I can remind myself that I enjoy doing these projects and they aren't always going to go smoothly I'll be fine. But if it starts to take much longer than I thought, I get steamed.

I just MADE myself stop from making a wallet just because I wanted to get it done. I have poked my fingers about six times in the last hour. I'm stopping right now until tomorrow.

For me I get angry if I screwed up on a build. Because you don't see it until you are almost done. For example my last build I built a glider bench. When I built the backrest I built the same part twice and didn't notice until I was putting everything together. I built a new piece but not until the next day. I just was so frustrated at that moment that I knew that if I built that piece right then I would have hurt myself or broke something or did the same mistake. That is maturity and experience because just a few weeks ago I was building a bench and I assembled the same armrest twice and then a third time...

Thanks for sharing the Maggie news.

My Husky girl, Foxy, turned 14 this year. She wandered in from the woods one day, as a puppy, and we couldn't find the owner, so we kept her. We don't know her exact birthday, so, we figured at that time she was probably a few months old and therefore have her the birthdate of Feb 14th. So this year, on her Golden Birthday - which for those who don't know, your golden birthday is when you become the same age as the day you were born - I cooked her, her very own steak for dinner. I held it for her and let her year into it... and boy, _what a feast it was!_ I've never had a dog make it to 10, so... I'm really on edge these days, and extremely emotional just looking at her, because I'm preemptively dreading that day that will ultimately come, *_even though_* I have no idea when it will be. 😢 But yes, anyone who has owned a dog, and has loved them unconditionally, knows that they do have emotions as well. They, too, unconditionally love US. (and yes, also cats; birds as well, no doubt) Your right though... It's helpful, thinking about how great those years have been that you have with them. And, adopting a pet is the best way to become an owner... nay, a _parent._ Especially if they have been a mistreated pet, and you give them the exact opposite... They will be the best pet, because they've (unfortunately) experienced the worst of life, but now, thanks to you, get to experience *_the best_** that life can offer...* ❤ 🐕 🐈 🦜 ❤

Pff dharma, but the second arrow is ego, so learning ego abandonment would help, also with control issues. The frustration is the same, ego, but you're addressing it with one good method in active meditation. Frankly I find inactive meditation(suppression) to be rare, difficult, and contrary to the mind. Sitting and experiencing everything, all rage, all tears, all panic, and doing absolutely nothing - that's powerful, and you go deeper every time.

'This will be great 🥰!!!' is gambling a lot of happiness on an unknown 'This might be sweet ☺️' is enough imagined future joy for motivation along a path of unknowns, and save the joy for when you get there

In regards to the dogs surgery. Look up how they do skin grafts. It's the same concept. They remove a small patch of skin from somewhere else, then do the offset slices with a special tool, then stretch it over the wound. It's done this way specifically, because the skin will grow sideways and close the small gaps very quickly. I was looking at a skin graft, and luckily, it was decided that i didn't need one. Because getting a 3/4" square of skin cut off my buttock or thigh, would have hurt pretty bad, in addition to all the pain i was already in. And painkillers do not seem to work on me. They had me on a heavy morphine drip, and it did nothing for me. Didn't even make me sleepy.

That accordioning of skin reminds me of some goofy packing material that I got that is kinda accordion-like heavy brown paper that's not quite cardstock. It comes in long sheets that when you stretch them a little look like honeycombs, but the incisions to make it are zigzag, not straight, as if they were stamp-cut with a vvvvvv pattern. It's coarse textured but way more ecologically friendly than foam or plastic.

The impatience is made worse when avoiding it is within our control, yet we don't.

Second Arrow was in the other Apple TV show that is really good, The Crowded Room. Jack has that talk with Danny when they are working on their confidence. Both shows are great, but I’m pretty sure they were releasing episodes during the same time.

Listening as attentively as an addict at an anon meeting. I rage. No patience. Has ruined my life. One of my dogs had the same skin procedure after a cancer op. Good to hear yours is good. I use a hockey jersey (lots of holes) for recoveries. Also just adopted a youngster after losing an elder. They say never meet your heros but i think we'd get along. mostly. Lol

interesting video , love it .

The, "it should" is the killer. So true

i feel exactlty the same as you speak........ with my job....

Emotions are a reaction of the body to a thought, so if you think "this should go faster", you feel a negative emotion like impatience or anger. You could replace the thought with "this is going exactly as fast as it is supposed to go, because if not, it would go faster or slower" ..... the emotion wil be different!

When I read the title I thought he was going to talk about impatience with stupid people and I was highly interested in learning how to deal with this.

I struggle with this daily. I start to hurry cause i worry if i dont get to next prject someone else may get to do it. Its completely irrational and anxiety inducing. But i deal with it alot

The technique with the incisions is so interesting.

When ever im seriously angry i just ask myself is my action worth the outcome and if it doesn't i just move on, thats the best way i can calm myself down. The only exemption is when im mad at myself than i just stay angry lol

"Second arrow" is a very good way of looking at it. I'm not angry I did X on accident and Y happened. I'm angry I'm stupid enough to make mistake X in the first place.

I’m very impatience because my energy levels are terrible and they just go suddenly so I know if I want to get something done I know I only have a small window to do it. Means I end up with projects that are subpar and I’m up happy with.

Accordion the skin. That’s a phrase I won’t forget in a hurry. Reminds of the pastry design😂

I've done some dog training, and my 2¢: Generally speaking, as long as an older dog seems happy, it's probably too big a risk to bring in another one. The cost benefit analysis isn't on the good side. Old dogs can get cranky and hate change, just like people, and it's hard to compete for attention with a younger, more active animal.

I have a black hold that sucks up tools that I'm working with, and then placing them back down after I've been looking for it for WAY too long, Just drives me insane too!

they do that skin stretching thing for burn victims. they take some skin from somewhere else and cut it like that so it expands to 2x the area. then half can go back where it came from and half can go on the burn

Hey Adam, saw you zipping down Valencia today at Sunday Streets on your onewheel board, would have said hi but you zoomed by so fast I didn't realize it was you until you were already past.

Pretty sure that over the next few hundred years, you will shrink, turn green…and become Yoda.

That accordioning of skin is the same as was used in human skin grafting for burn injuries. It means that the donor site (which also becomes an injury that needs healing) doesnt need to be as big as the burn area.😊

As a release of frustration and anger I found clay pigeon shooting does a great job (my scores get better when you think each one is the person/problem that is the cause) to share your time with a dog is a bond that lasts for every even when they are gone to the elysian Fields👍

It could have been solved with weight or water displacement easily in the past. Imagine making ingots of the squared lengths. Boiling them down. Adding the two smaller portions together and weighing them or putting them into water to see the amount displaced. I'm sure there are many ways. Good going students!