Visiting a new place can get overwhelming quickly. But I learned a trick that I think everyone should adopt: Before setting out for the day in said place, pick an “arbitrary stupid goal.”

I learned about the arbitrary stupid goal (or ASG, as I will call it moving forward) in 2019 when the Eater Book Club (RIP, for now) read Tamara Shopsin’s memoir Arbitrary Stupid Goal. Tamara is the daughter of the late Kenny Shopsin, who helmed the legendary NYC grocery-turned-sandwich-counter Shopsin’s, “one of the quirkiest restaurants in the city” according to Eater NY critic Robert Sietsema.