Algorithms to Live By: the Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths is a nice book about how to live an efficient life. The authors interviewed me and included some of our conversations in the book. Below I include a snippet from the book summarizing how I once used the Secretary Problem to accept and reject bids when selling my house. It was ultimately successful and also pretty stressful. I blogged about it here. Other excerpts are about my research in emergency response and how I use the critical path method to get my three daughters to school on time every morning.
Algorithms to live by on Punk Rock OR:
- the secretary problem is a useful model for selling a house
- don’t carpool! It saves on gas but it guzzles time
- commuting to work using public transportation
- a six year old solves the subset sum problem
- why women are (sorta) responsible for traffic congestion
- why I am a late merger when driving (it’s more efficient!)
Punk Rock Operations Research 
February 8th, 2017 at 11:28 am
Just used this optimal stopping process in the other side, to decide which house to make an offer on. It worked out well – that offer was just accepted! (after some negotiation)